Conestoga College endorses active learning to promote an engaging and positive learning experience for the students. Active learning is an approach to teaching and learning where teachers involve the students in the learning process by using various strategies. However, why do students learn more with active learning? In this teaching tip, we explore the rationale behind active learning classrooms and explain how the brain learns more with active learning strategies.
Does Active Learning Mean Only Create Activities?
Active learning does not mean only creating activities in the classroom. Instead, active learning promotes the implementation of various teaching and learning methods and activities to put “the learners in a position to think about and apply what they are learning in a real-world meaningful context” (Poole. 2021, p. 69). When teachers create an activity, they aim to activate students’ prior learning, understanding, and perspectives about the topic. Active learning is not about playing games with the students; instead, active learning helps the students make connections between the games or interactive activities and their learning. Freeman and his colleagues (2014) meta analyzed 225 studies and found that average examination scores were improved by about 6% in active learning sections compared to the students in classes with traditional lecturing. The examination scores are likely to improve because students have learned. Brame (2016) makes a crucial connection between activities and students’ learning:
…activities that students do to construct knowledge and understanding. The activities vary but require students to do higher order thinking. Although not always explicitly noted, metacognition—students’ thinking about their own learning—is an important element, providing the link between activity and learning.”
So, active learning aims to engage students and activate higher order of learning and metacognition. How do we do these? To answer this question, we need to know how the brain learns. The following section discusses the relationship between active learning and neuroscience.
Neuroscience and Active Learning
Studies in neuroscience reveal that employing a multimodal learning style leads to better retention and brings long-term changes in the brain. Students working with each other require more cognitive and sensory network involvement than passively learning from a teacher (Hoogendoorn, 2015). For example, when students are involved in a group discussion, they talk, listen to each other, give replies or reactions, and experience a wide range of emotions, making the student more involved in the lesson.
How Does the Brain Behave in an Active Learning Classroom?
When the brain learns a new piece of information, the neurons start firing while coding for various aspects of the new information. This coding and firing process aims to create connections between various information we already have in our brain. In Hoogendoorn’s (2015) words, when neurons from different areas respond to the same stimuli, they become ‘friends.’ This how two areas of the brain meet and make connections. In the absence of active learning, neurons make weak connections. See the example below:
Visualization of how brain makes connections by Nasreen Sultana
So, when I allow the students to discuss Canada day, different parts of their brains are activated, and the students experience the lesson instead of passively listening to the teacher about Canada Day. Hoogendoorn (2015) comments that the more areas in the brain make connections, the more chances there are to retain the memory for a longer time.
Finally, as teachers, we need to learn more about how the brain learns to design our activities closely. A takeaway activity for this reading would be to reflect on one of your class activities and draw a visual graph of how probably your students are making various connections in their brains.
Self-reflective questions for designing active learning activities:
How is the activity connected to my learning outcomes?
What am I aiming at by doing the activity?
What is the rationale behind the activity?
How does the activity help the students to make connections?
Does the activity endorse higher order of learning?
Does the activity activate more areas of the brain?
References:
Brame, C. (2016). Active Learning. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/active-learning.
Freeman, S., et al. (2014). Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(23): 8410-8415
Hoogendoorn, C. (2015, October 15). The Neuroscience of Active Learning. Open Lab. https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/writingacrossthecurriculum/2015/10/15/the-neuroscience-of-active-learning/
Poole, K. 2021. A flipped classroom approach to teaching search techniques for systematic reviews to encourage active learning. Journal of Information Literacy, 15(1), pp. 68–83
Dr. Nasreen Sultana
Nasreen Sultana, PhD, has worked in post-secondary education for more than a decade. Prior to joining Conestoga College, she taught in the teacher education program at Queen's University while completing her PhD in Education. In addition, Nasreen is a qualified administrator of IDI (Intercultural Development Inventory). Nasreen brings international experience and exposure to the role of the Teaching and Learning Consultant, and invites discussions and learning regarding various aspects of diversity in faculty and in students. Her areas of research include intercultural communication, assessment and classroom instruction.
