# data[].attributes.body
The first mobile platform to be proven in an higher education environment.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Fun is an extraordinarily valuable tool to make education better.

To engage students in their learning Quitch uses a range of gamification techniques, like pushing them into a timed quiz to compete against themselves, or by allowing them to challenge their friends to a battle of wills, or by giving them a series of rewards and feedback loops. Each of the techniques in Quitch are designed to create authentic motivation for students.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Fun is an extraordinarily valuable tool to make education better. To engage students in their learning Quitch uses a range of gamification techniques, like pushing them into a timed quiz to compete against themselves, or by allowing them to challenge their friends to a battle of wills, or by giving them a series of rewards and feedback loops.

# data[].attributes.body
Teaching Practice

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Teaching practice - Developing lesson plans

# data[].attributes.body
Learner-Centered

# data[].attributes.body
A Review of Research

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
College teaching may be the only skilled profession for which no preparation or training is provided or required. You get a Ph.D., join a faculty, they show you your office, and then tell you "By the way, you're teaching 205 next semester. See you later."

# data[].attributes.body
Sit and talk - moving around

# data[].attributes.body
Prodigy

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
As a teacher, one of your biggest challenges is to plan lessons that inspire your students to stay actively involved in the learning process.

But you've probably noticed that traditional, teacher-centered learning plans aren't always conducive to achieving that inspiration.

That's where empower, engage, and active learning strategies come into play. You can use them to stimulate a classroom by putting students at the center of the learning process.

Get inspired by these 8 strategies that will help students talk more openly, think more creatively and - ultimately - become more engaged in the process of learning.

This article is accompanied by a downloadable list of active learning strategies to keep at your desk for quick reference.

Active Learning Strategies

1. Game-based learning platforms

Game-based learning platforms add depth and differentiation to the educational process and allow students to work with their instructors to achieve their learning objectives.

Eric Sheninger, a principal, author, and Senior Fellow at the International Center for Leadership in Education (ICLE), writes passionately about the use of technology as an active learning tool.

In his article " Shifting From Passive to Active Learning," he writes:

It is really about how students use devices to create artifacts of learning that demonstrate conceptual mastery through relevant application and evaluation...Give kids challenging problems to solve that have more than one right answer and let them use technology to show that they understand. This is the epitome of active learning...

Math games and websites are at the forefront of delivering active learning through technology.

One example is Prodigy, a platform that constantly adjusts questions to tackle student trouble spots and delivers math problems with words, charts pictures, and numbers.

Prodigy is free to play and aligned with curricula for grades 1 to 8 teachers.
Create your teacher account today - it's free, forever. 👇
Make math fun and engaging!

2. Reciprocal questioning

Use reciprocal questioning to encourage an open dialogue in which students take on the role of the teacher and create their own questions about a topic, reading section, or lesson.

After covering a topic of your choice in class - or after assigning a reading selection - divide the class into pairs or small groups and have students come up with a few questions for discussion with the rest of the class.

To facilitate the process, you can provide students with "question stems," which provide a foundation for a question but still require students to think critically about a lesson, text, or other section of material by completing the query. Consider the examples below.

Use these question stems to anchor and explore concepts in course material, helping students investigate a range of new topics and points of view associated with your lesson.

Much like student-generated test questions - a type of of experiential learning activity - reciprocal questioning involves students in the learning process to help build their comprehension of course material.

Reciprocal questioning can be particularly useful when:

Preparing for tests or exams

Introducing a new topic or section of course content

Discussing reading or writing materials in greater detail

3. Three step interviews

A cooperative learning strategy , the three step interview encourages students to develop active listening skills by quizzing one another, sharing their thoughts, and taking notes.

To use the three step interview process, divide students into groups of three, and assign three roles: interviewer, interviewee, and notetaker.

After also assigning a theme or topic of discussion, have students participate in a five to 10 minute interview to discuss what they found to be the key information relating to the topic.

After each interview, have students rotate roles. Depending on factors including the grade level of your students and their experience with the strategy, you may adjust the length of the time for each interview.

Before using the strategy, you may find it useful to have students explore the types of questions reporters ask in interviews and at what point in an interview they ask them. You may also want to provide recording sheets to use when they are assigned the "reporter" role.

The three-step interview confers benefits including:

Helping students learn and apply different questioning strategies

Strengthening students' connection with course material in a creative and engaging way

Producing a sense of accountability, with students working together to complete a task and grasp a lesson

4. The pause procedure

Use the pause procedure to intersperse strategic pauses into your class lectures and enhance student understanding of teaching materials.

To use the pause procedure, arrange for pauses of two to three minutes between every 10 to 15 minutes of lecture time.

During these brief breaks, encourage students to discuss or rework their notes in pairs to clarify key points covered, raise questions, and solve problems posed by the instructor.

Alternatively, students can work together to write a paragraph that connects or highlights key ideas set out in their partner's notes.

A 2014 study concluded that breaking a lecture into brief pauses can increase student attention and learning outcomes. The pause procedure, the study determined, is "a good active learning strategy which helps students review their notes, reflect on them, discuss and explain the key ideas with their partners."

The use of the pause procedure involves a minimal amount of extra time, but can confer significant benefits in comparison to lectures that continue without breaks.

5. The muddiest point technique

The muddiest point technique involves asking students to write notes on the most unclear or most confusing element of a given homework assignment, lecture, or class discussion.

The Muddiest Point: Sample Phrasing What have you found to be the muddiest point so far in this assignment? What topic do you find to be the least clear?

Asking students to write down what they find to be the least clear is a powerful exercise because it compels them to grade or rate their own knowledge of a topic.

In short, the exercise helps students reflect on the lesson and identify concepts needing further examination or study.

From your perspective, the activity can serve as an insightful source of feedback.

For example, if more than a quarter of the class mentions the same "muddiest point," you may wish to schedule further time to discuss that topic, or create a new lesson plan or assignment to tackle it.

6. The devil's advocate approach

The devil's advocate approach asks one or more students to take the opposing side of a predominant argument or point of view being discussed during a lesson.

Once you have completed an assignment or lesson plan, select a topic that is suitable for discussion and debate. The topic should serve as an appropriate subject for providing arguments from both sides.

The activity is flexible and should be tailored to suit your students' grade level. In its simplest form, divide the class into two sections and coordinate a class-wide debate based on a selected topic.

Alternatively, you may have students annotate reading texts and respond to contentions by creating counterarguments. Then, have students debate the proposals discussed during a mock town hall meeting.

While this approach can be used across a number of grade levels and subjects, consider this list of thematic claims used as primers for a devil's advocate activity in a secondary ELA class.

This approach can help cultivate active learning in the classroom by encouraging students to:

Think more critically, challenging participants to expand their understanding of the perspectives surrounding an issue and to view it through a different lens

Become more engaged, fostering involvement by drawing out opinions to explore the complexity of an issue being studied

Produce deeper understanding of topics or issues, using rigorous analysis to collectively clarify, probe, and pose alternatives to problems being discussed

According to a study published in the Journal of Theory, Research and Action in Urban Education , the devil's advocate approach can help students become "more familiar with a...topic and its multifaceted viewpoints." The same study concludes that a classroom using this strategy can:

"[provide] students with multiple perspectives, and [challenge] students with tough questions. In such a classroom, students will become more engaged and students' critical thinking and writing skills will be enriched."

7. Peer teaching activities

A flexible and multi-faceted approach to active learning, peer instruction encompasses a range of scenarios where students instruct skills or explain concepts to classmates.

Some popular options include:

Reading buddies - A cooperative learning strategy that pairs two students who work together to read an assigned text.

Cross-age peer tutoring - A peer learning strategy involving students in different grades, wherein which one student instructs another on material in which the first student is advanced and the second student is a novice.

Role play - A group of students is split into smaller groups and given a specific task to complete, like in small group work. However, in addition to working on a specific task, the members of each group are asked to play a certain "role". Unlike in traditional role-play, all members of one group play the same role, not individually assigned roles.

Peer teaching activities help boost vital skills and behaviors including student interaction, accountability, group processing.

8. Rotating chair group discussions

Rotating chair group discussions encourage students to actively listen to selected speakers who follow a pattern of guiding class discussion and summarizing previous points.

Students lead and stimulate class discussion as they "rotate" roles, repeatedly selecting the following speaker.

To use this strategy effectively, ensure that students adhere to the following pattern:

When a student wishes to participate, they must raise their hand

The student who is speaking calls on the next speaker, ideally someone who has not yet contributed

The student who has been called upon briefly summarizes what the previous student said before developing the idea further

This process can be repeated across a variety of topics, with your guidance to stay on track and help stuck students.

The benefits of rotating chair group discussions are not only limited to the speakers. Knowing that they may be called upon to summarize the previous topic, all students are engaged in attentive listening, frequently jotting down notes and ideas to stay on track in the spaces between speaking.

Moreover, students are put into a scenario where they learn from their colleagues' ideas, sparking new considerations of material in an active and engaging way.

This strategy is rewarding for students because it encourages powerful and direct engagement with course material.

The Teacher's Role in the Active Learning Classroom

While active learning places an emphasis on the student's role in the learning experience, there is no doubt that the success of any active learning strategy starts with the thought and planning of a conscientious instructor.

"Overall," a 2011 study found , "teachers play an influential role in increasing students' situational interest in the active-learning classroom," while factors like a teacher's social connection with students and subject matter expertise "significantly influence the level of students' situational interest in the active learning classroom."

And, critically, the benefits of active learning go both ways, helping teachers as well as students.

As active learning advocate James Ballencia writes,

With the goal of teaching mindful learners who actively pursue knowledge, teachers become more actively engaged in how they teach the curriculum and how they develop each student's learning potential. They mix and match a variety of ... tactics to ensure that students not only learn more, better, and faster - they also learn smarter.

As many of the techniques above are open-ended, the active learning strategies underpinning them may differentiate for different types of learners. Be sure to consider how you can differentiate instruction while still enjoying the benefits of these active learning strategies.

Active Learning Techniques: Key Questions

To help the success of these strategies, put yourself in your students' position and imagine how they might experience it. This will help you get a feel for the lesson.

When applying any of these strategies for your course, be sure to ask yourself:

Will this be engaging and exciting for my students?

Can this activity deploy formative assessment strategies ?

Is the student placed at the center of this learning strategy?

Will this encourage my students to discuss a topic with one another?

Am I giving students the opportunity to reflect on the learning process?

Is this activity getting my students to think deeply and critically about a topic or lesson or is it simply a comprehension exercise?

Making Space for Active Learning Strategies

While all of the active learning strategies outlined above can be deployed in traditional, lecture-oriented classrooms, the physical arrangement of your room and the number of students in the class can make some of them difficult to perform easily.

While a flexible seating classroom arrangement may ease this challenge, such a solution is not always possible. Plan these exercises with the limitations of your physical space carefully, being mindful of the environmental constraints posed by the unique arrangements of some of the strategies above.

Final Thoughts on Active Learning Strategies

Active learning plainly puts the focus on the learner: what the learner does, what the learner thinks, and how the learner behaves.

But, crucially, active learning doesn't simply happen with a few simple instructions: it occurs in the classroom where the teacher is committed to a learning environment that makes active learning possible .

Ultimately, these active learning strategies will help build understanding rather than memorization of facts, giving students the confidence to apply learning to different problems and contexts and achieve greater autonomy over their learning.

And, after all, that's exactly makes active learning "active": putting students at the center of the learning process as they take the initiative to learn .

Downloadable List of the 8 Active Learning Strategies
Click here to download the list of strategies to print and keep at your desk.
>> Create or log in to your teacher account on Prodigy - a free, game-based learning platform that assesses student progress and performance as they play. Aligned with curricula across the English-speaking world, it's loved by more than 800,000 teachers and 30 million students.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
8 Active Learning Strategies and Examples

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
As a teacher, one of your biggest challenges is to plan lessons that inspire your students to stay actively involved in the learning process. But you've probably noticed that traditional, teacher-centered learning plans aren't always conducive to achieving that inspiration. That's where empower, engage, and active learning strategies come into play.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
INTRODUCTION: As an instructional designer, I work with faculty members who want to improve their teaching. Being one step removed from the classroom has some advantages: If I can convince faculty to try new and more effective teaching strategies, I can indirectly reach thousands of students, many more than if I were still teaching myself. However, this indirect connection to the students can also be frustrating. Because I can't teach others' students, I have to trust that once the faculty members leave my workshops, the strategies I've modeled and introduced will improve student learning.

After attending the On Course I Workshop, I wondered how a faculty development position could lend itself to furthering the On Course philosophies. The first approach was obvious: introduce and model On Course strategies to faculty, and help them incorporate these techniques into their classrooms. The second approach needed to simmer a little longer on the back burner of my brain. In my dealings with faculty, I've noticed that some faculty members exhibit the same self-limiting behaviors as their students-behaviors that undermine their teaching effectiveness. For example, often instructors blame students, the high school system, and administrators for poorly prepared and consequently poor performing students. They cling to familiar ways of teaching simply because "that's how I was taught" and "I have too much content to cover." They complain about teaching difficulties rather than taking steps to improve it. Just as these beliefs and behaviors limit students' potential, so also do they prevent *faculty* from becoming the most effective instructors they can be.

My approach to transferring the On Course principles, therefore, is threefold:

to teach strategies that faculty can use with their students to help them be more successful in college

to model these strategies in my workshops so that faculty can see them in action

to use the strategies to empower faculty to take greater responsibility for their teaching effectiveness

The first opportunity I had to integrate On Course principles with my own work was Active Learning Week: a week-long workshops series in mid-July that I had been planning for several months. The primary objectives of the series were to introduce faculty to the importance of Active Learning, model and discuss a variety of Active Learning strategies, and to tackle the dilemma of "covering content" versus taking the time to let students grapple with material.

This third objective tapped into one of the greatest anxieties that instructors have about using active learning strategies. Many faculty worry that Active Learning techniques reduce the amount of time they have to "get through" content. This anxiety points to bigger issues (students can't do it on their own; I don't have time to use these techniques; this is how I was taught, etc) that underscored my three collateral learning objectives. As a result of this workshop, I wanted faculty to...

commit to struggle with the issue of enhancing learning versus covering content (not solve it every time)

commit to a new teaching technique(s) that might rejuvenate their outlook on the profession

get them to take more responsibility for their teaching and student learning

With this context laid, I would like to describe the first of three activities I facilitated during this week to reach both my primary and collateral objectives.

TITLE: The "A-ha" Moment: A Guided Journal Exercise

PURPOSE: I knew that the first activity I planned for Active Learning Week was pivotal. To start the week with a lecture defining active learning and describing its benefits would have undermined the tone I wanted for the week. I wanted the term "Active Learning" to hit an emotional chord with my participants from the beginning, so that for the rest of the week faculty would see these strategies not as "edu-babble" but as methods that they could appreciate as learners and teachers.

SUPPLIES/SET UP: A blank sheet of paper for each participant

DIRECTIONS: I divided the participants into two large groups. I told them that they would be free-writing for about 5-7 minutes.

Group 1 responded to the following prompt: Think of a time you learned something new-you "got it" and were excited. What happened to help you get it? What was the learning experience like? How did it feel?

Group 2 responded to a similar prompt: Think of a time you were teaching and got excited about your students' learning. What happened to help your students get it? What was the learning experience like? How did it feel?

After they had written their entries, I paired participants from Group 1 with those from Group 2. I asked them to share these experiences with their partner, and then identify what the learning experiences had in common. I then called on a few pairs to share their common experiences with the whole group. The entire process took about 20 minutes.

OUTCOMES/EXPERIENCES: In order to hit that emotional chord with my participants, I wanted to highlight the rush one feels when they have an "a-ha" moment, or when their students do. This rush, I believe, is what rejuvenates us as learners and teachers.

By drawing on a positive learning experience, either as a teacher or a learner, participants could see how the learner's involvement in the process facilitated this "a-ha!" moment. After comparing their journal entries with their partners, participants noted these things in common:

We both had experiences where the student figured it out for him/herself.

In both cases, the learner was empowered.

The learner used resources available to get the information.

It involved applying the information more than hearing about it.

After processing this experience, participants were in a much better place to do three things that closed this introductory session and set the stage for the rest of the week:

briefly explore the "textbook" definitions of active learning

commit to struggle to create "a-ha" moments for their students (sometimes at the expense of content coverage)

evaluate the strategies they would be experiencing throughout the week with respect to their ability to create these "a-ha" moments.

LESSONS LEARNED FROM ACTIVE LEARNING WEEK: Planning a week's worth of faculty development activities is like preparing a mini-curriculum, and the skills that worked for me when I was a teacher also helped me design and deliver this program: meticulous planning, a relaxed presentation style, and an appreciation for the work the "students" are doing. I was amazed that 25 faculty members, including those underpaid and under-appreciated folks we call adjunct faculty, would voluntarily spend five afternoons in the summer to dive deep and explore their teaching. More faculty attended this summer workshop series than all my fall workshop offerings combined, giving me a better picture of when faculty are most willing to take advantage of professional development opportunities.

I also learned how much participants like to hear what their colleagues are doing in the classroom. A session that got the most positive feedback was called "Stories from the Trenches," when two full-time faculty members shared how they converted a lesson from a traditional "talk and chalk" approach to a more learner-centered approach. Hearing faculty describe the benefits and the challenges to their new approach made quite an impact on the participants.

Of course, I didn't make Active Learning converts out of every participant. On my final evaluations, there were a few comments about this being nothing more than "games" done at the expense of "real teaching" (because, of course, learning can't be fun!). Some participants found it difficult to distance themselves from the role of "student/observer" in the week's activities to clearly evaluate the active learning strategies I was modeling. (One participant stayed twenty minutes after a session had ended arguing about his dissatisfaction with how a simulation activity ended for his group. He could at that moment only process the result; he could not step back from the activity to look at it as a potential teaching tool.) Many participants wished they had more time in the week to explore these strategies in greater depth, which I will consider when repeating this event. I will also pare down the number of articles I provide in the binder; it was overwhelming for some participants. On the whole, however, I was very pleased with this effort and look forward to Active Learning Week (the sequel) next summer.

RESOURCES: BIBLIOGRAPHY OF ACTIVE LEARNING RESOURCES

Bonwell, Charles C. and James A. Eison. Active Learning: Creating Excitement in the Classroom. ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report No. 1. Washington, D.C.: The George Washington University, School of Education and Human Development, 1991.

Meyers, Chet and Thomas B. Jones. Promoting Active Learning: Strategies for the College Classroom. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1993.

Vella, Jane. Taking Learning to Task: Creative Strategies for Teaching Adults. San Fransisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 2000.

"Active Learning: Getting Students to Work and Think in the Classroom," Speaking of Teaching: Stanford University Newsletter on Teaching Volume 5, Number 1 Fall 1993. Center for Teaching and Learning, Stanford University.

Faust, J.L., and Paulson, D.R. (1998). "Active Learning in the College Classroom." J ournal on Excellence in College Teaching, 9 (2), 3-24.
CLASSROOM DISCUSSIONS
Fostering Classroom Discussions http://www.mhhe.com/socscience/english/tc/discussion.htm
COOPERATIVE LEARNING
Lee, Christing, et.al. (1997) Cooperative Learning in the Thinking Classroom: Research and Theoretical Perspectives. Paper presented at the International Conference on Thinking, Singapore. EDRS document: ED 408 570

Jones, L.G. (1997). Sample Cooperative Learning Strategies. A Guide to Using the Extended Class Period. Baltimore: Crespar, Johns Hopkins University.

Cooperative Learning: The "Jigsaw" Approach www.jigsaw.org
PROBLEM BASED LEARNING
University of Delaware's extensive PBL site http://www.udel.edu/pbl/

National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science CASE STUDIES
http://sciencecases.lib.buffalo.edu/cs/

-Erin Hagar, Instructional Designer, Johns Hopkins University, MD
Promoting Active Learning to Faculty Forum

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
INTRODUCTION: As an instructional designer, I work with faculty members who want to improve their teaching. Being one step removed from the classroom has some advantages: If I can convince faculty to try new and more effective teaching strategies, I can indirectly reach thousands of students, many more than if I were still teaching myself.