As a teacher, one of your biggest challenges is planning lessons that inspire your students to stay actively involved in the learning process, but traditional, teacher-centred learning plans aren’t always helpful in achieving that inspiration. That’s where active learning strategies come into play.
Active Learning Strategies: A Teacher’s Secret Weapon
As a teacher, keeping your students engaged and motivated can be a constant uphill battle. Traditional, lecture-based teaching methods often leave students feeling disengaged, bored, and unmotivated.
That’s where active learning strategies come into play – a powerful toolkit that can transform your classroom into a dynamic, student-centered learning environment.
You can use these strategies to empower, engage, and stimulate a classroom by putting students at the centre of the learning process and help them talk more openly, think more creatively, and be more engaged in the process of learning.
What are “active learning strategies”?
Active learning strategies are tools and techniques that empower learners to take an active role in their own learning process. Instead of passively receiving information, students become active participants, engaging with the material through hands-on activities, discussions, and problem-solving exercises.
These strategies not only make learning more engaging and enjoyable but also foster critical thinking, collaboration, and self-directed learning.
Teachers are responsible for exposing learners to as many of them as possible, allowing them to experiment, and helping them identify what works.
In the classroom, there are a wide range of active learning strategies available to learners and many students use some of them automatically without any awareness of them.
Examples of Active Learning Strategies
1. Think-Pair-Share:
Students reflect on a question or prompt individually, then discuss their thoughts with a partner before sharing with the entire class. This strategy encourages critical thinking and collaborative learning.
2. Jigsaw Activities:
Students are divided into groups and assigned different parts of a topic or task. They become “experts” on their assigned part and then regroup to share their knowledge with new teammates.
3. Case Studies:
Students analyze real-life scenarios or case studies related to the subject matter, applying their knowledge to solve problems and make decisions.
4. Flipped Classroom:
Students learn new content outside of class through videos, readings, or other materials, and class time is dedicated to hands-on activities, discussions, and reinforcement of the material.
5. Peer Instruction:
Students work together to solve problems, explain concepts to each other, and provide feedback, fostering a collaborative learning environment.
6. Experiential Learning:
Students engage in hands-on activities, simulations, or field trips that allow them to apply their knowledge in real-world settings.
By incorporating these active learning strategies into your teaching practice, you can create a more engaging, interactive, and effective learning experience for your students.
The Role of Teachers
The role of teachers here is to:
- Recognize the learning strategies that students use.
- Make them explicit to students, bring them to their attention, and talk about them.
- Support students’ use of them in the classroom.
- Utilize them to make learning more effective.
- Base teaching process and techniques on these strategies.
Conclusion
Active learning strategies are a powerful tool for teachers who want to create a student-centred learning environment that fosters critical thinking, collaboration, and self-directed learning. By empowering students to take an active role in their own learning, you can unlock their full potential and create a more engaging and effective classroom experience.
Further Readings
The following articles provide you with important information about active learning strategies to keep at your desk for quick reference.
Learning Styles vs Learning Strategies
6 Active Learning Strategies to Energize Your Classroom
4 Learning Strategies for Fostering and Focusing Students’ Reading
Best Strategies and Practices for Improving Students’ Writing Skills
Five Practical Strategies for Integrating the Four Language Skills in Your EFL Classes
Still Interested in Learning More About Active Learning Strategies?!
If you’re interested in learning more about active learning strategies and other innovative teaching techniques, consider enrolling in a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) course.
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