Active Learning – Faculty Development

Welcome

The resources presented here cover a variety of topics on engaging students in activities that promote analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of class content.

Active learning is an approach to instruction in which all students are asked to engage in the learning process. Active learning is very different from “traditional” modes of instruction in which students are passive recipients of knowledge from an instructor or an expert. Check this video for a brief introduction of active learning.

Active learning can take many forms and be executed in any discipline. Commonly, students will engage in small or large activities centered around writing, talking, problem solving, or reflecting.

Recently, researchers have examined a large body of studies on 21st century learning to determine whether support for the associated learning approaches is isolated or broad and far reaching. One recent meta-analysis across 225 studies on active learn- ing in the STEM field by concluded that active learning broadly improves performance and student competency when compared to more traditional methods.

Check the website at Center for Educational Innovation at University of Minnesota for examples of successful implementation of ALA in classroom, ways to address challenges and useful research and resources.

Active Learning with Dr. Richard Felder
Dr. Richard M. Felder, the Hoechst Celanese Professor Emeritus of Chemical Engineering at North Carolina State University, codirects the American Society for Engineering Education National Effective Teaching Institute (NETI) and regularly offers teaching effectiveness workshops on campuses and at conferences around the world.