Active Learning @Dal

Last September, our campus held a symposium focused on active learning, which, by definition, is any classroom practice that actively involves students in their own learning. Sixty professors engaged in discussions of active learning methods, including simulations, student response systems, and peer learning. Active learning can be as simple as a carefully constructed question and answer session, or as complex as a simulation exercise involving actors.

Some of the features of active learning techniques are:

  • Providing opportunities to recall knowledge;

  • Opportunities for discussion (exercising knowledge);

  • Activities that involve all students (deliberate inclusion);

  • Timely feedback (always correct a wrong answer).

One of my favourite active learning strategies is “group quizzes.” I find this intriguing because it turns examination protocol upside down: students take the quiz individually, and then, based on their scores, are put into mixed groups and repeat the quiz in groups. The idea is that lower-performing students learn solution strategies from those students that performed better on the quiz, while higher-performing students improve their learning by teaching their techniques. In practice, it is claimed that students who do group quizzes consistently outperform those who do not when they are given the same final exam (done individually).

Why Active Learning?

Our 2017 to 2018 first year to second year retention was 84%, just a 1% improvement over 2016/17. From another point of view, that means we lost 16% of our first-year students last year – 339 students who will not receive a Dalhousie education. If these students choose not to return to university education, it could be a significant loss to our economy and society.

Our long-term objective is to keep growing our retention numbers. One way to do this is to increase engagement in the classroom. Engaged students are more likely to experience a sense of belonging, find educational success, and remain at the university (Chen, Lattuca, & Hamilton, 2008; Crosling, Heagney, & Thomas, 2009).

Active learning is one strategy for increasing engagement in the classroom. Active learning methods are not necessarily easy to do but bring large benefits to both the student and the instructor. In his 2016 book, Small Teaching, Lang details research studies that show as little as 10% of a course devoted to active learning practices can have disproportionately large effects on student performance. “Small teaching activities have been proven to raise student performance on learning tasks by the equivalent of a full letter grade or higher” (p. 9). Some faculty attendees at last year’s active learning symposium at Dalhousie echoed these ideas concluding that active learning is worth the extra effort, but that one should not expect instant results – it takes time to get it right, and students will need to get accustomed to a different type of class structure. But when the benefits kick in, there is no turning back.

The Active Learning Landscape at Dalhousie

In September 2018, a survey of active learning practices was conducted at Dalhousie. Ninety-two percent of respondents said they were doing some active learning in their classes. An analysis of the results shows that mostly easy-to-implement techniques are in use, such as “Question and Answer” in 82% of classes, “Think/Pair/Share” in 55%, and “Large Group Discussions” in 55%. The least used methods were the relatively difficult-to-implement “Jigsaws,” “Concept Maps,” and “Group Quizzes,” each with less than 10% (See Figure 1).

Figure 1. Some active learning techniques in use at Dalhousie, grouped by difficulty of implementation

Figure 1. Some active learning techniques in use at Dalhousie, grouped by difficulty of implementation

As a follow-up to the survey, a call for course-level active learning grants was issued. Fourteen were awarded to faculty in Fall 2018 and 11 in Winter 2019. Many innovative ideas were proposed, and these can be viewed on the DalVision website: https://www.dal.ca/dept/DALVision/funded-projects.html.

On May 1 and 2, 2019, the Dalhousie Conference on University Teaching and Learning, “Diving Deep: Engaging Students Through Active Learning,” will focus on active learning. DCUTL is Canada’s longest-running university conference on learning and teaching. For more information and to register, go to: https://www.dal.ca/dept/clt/events-news/annual-events/DCUTL.html.

In conclusion, this is an exciting time for learning and teaching at Dalhousie. I invite you to try proven methods for engaging and exciting students about their learning. Contact the Centre for Learning and Teaching to consult on developing your own active learning methods.

References

Chen, H. L., Lattuca, L. R., & Hamilton, E. R. (2008). Conceptualizing engagement: Contributions of faculty to student engagement in engineering. Journal of Engineering Education, 97(3), 339-353.

Crosling, G., Heagney, M., & Thomas, L. (2009). Improving student retention in higher education: Improving teaching and learning. Australian Universities’ Review, 51(2), 9-18.

Lang, J. M. (2016). Small teaching: Everyday lessons from the science of learning. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

ArticlesJ. Pemberton Cyrus, PhD, PEng, FECdcutl, active learningComment