Engaging Students through Active Learning

As class sizes continue to grow, many instructors struggle with engaging and assessing their students. Active learning techniques may be used to simultaneously engage students and serve as an assessment tool. In a traditional lecture environment, students can begin to lose their focus after as little as ten minutes. Without intervention, this loss of focus can lead to complete disengagement. Numerous studies have shown that active learning techniques not only engage students, but may lead to deeper understanding, higher grades, and a reduction in the learning gap between high and low performers. In a large classroom, timely and effective assessment of students may be challenging. Without feedback, student’s perception of their learning may not be reflective of their actual progress. Active learning techniques may be utilized to assist students in formative assessment (including self-assessment), as well as summative assessment. In this seminar, we will review some of the research findings, explore active learning techniques that can be utilized in STEM classrooms, and sample some of the tools/technology that may aid in implementation in large classrooms. Bring your smart phone, tablet, or laptop and learn how you can use these simple techniques in your classroom.