ACTIVE LEARNING
The majority of students are passive learners who internalize information by simply rereading or reviewing the same material later on.
Learning passively, however, doesn’t test knowledge or understanding of material. In addition, it is difficult to recall much information as a passive learner.
Active learners engage with their education on a deeper level. Students who take an active approach put in the necessary cognitive effort to make their learning meaningful and memorable. These students will have a greater ability to understand, apply, and retain information.
Research has demonstrated that students who employ active learning strategies score higher on assessments than those who are passive learners.
Becoming an active learner takes time and effort. We suggest you start by trying a few of the strategies outlined below. Once you have begun to master some strategies consider adding another until you notice a positive difference in your ability to understand, apply, and retain information.
There is a measurable difference between passive and active learning in terms of how much information students are able to retain.
Here are some statistics highlighting the difference between active and passive learning:
Improved Exam Performance: A meta-analysis of 225 studies found that students in active learning classrooms were 1.5 times more likely to pass their exams than students in traditional, lecture-based classrooms. (Freeman et al., 2014)
Higher Grades: This study found that students in active learning environments achieved exam scores that were 6% higher than those in traditional lecture-based courses. (Deslauriers et al., 2019)
Increased Conceptual Understanding: Students in active learning environments demonstrated a 10% improvement in conceptual understanding compared to those in traditional lecture-based courses. (Deslauriers et al., 2019)
Improved Problem-Solving Skills: Active learning has been shown to enhance students' problem-solving abilities by 12% compared to traditional methods. (Deslauriers et al., 2019)
Greater Retention of Materials: Students who engage in active learning tend to retain information longer. One study found that students in active learning courses retained 35% more material than those in traditional lecture courses. (Freeman et al., 2014).
Many students employ a passive approach to learning. Why? Internalizing information (reading/listening) and simply reviewing that material later requires less time and effort. Learning passively also feels manageable because this method does not really challenge our brain. Active learning requires intention, focus and energy, which feels more difficult. In other words, thinking and learning actively requires more cognitive effort. Critically thinking about information allows the learner to improve decision making, enhance problem solving skills, and allows for more creativity.
The information below illustrates examples of passive and active learning strategies.
There are three pillars to active learning:
Below are step-by-step instructions to apply active learning strategies. Using these strategies consistently, especially for more challenging courses, greatly improves learning effectiveness and efficiency.
PREVIEWING
Previewing supports a learner’s ability to form a big picture of the content that will be delivered in class and helps prime and optimize your brain’s ability to: receive, encode, and store all that new information. The purpose of previewing is to prepare in advance of class and put yourself in a solid position to understand and retain the content you will engage with the next day. Do not try to understand and remember all previewed material as doing so is very difficult and time consuming. Remember, learning is incremental, and previewing is the first step in making sense of the material. As you read, attend lectures and labs, do assignments and study, your understanding, knowledge and your ability to apply your learning will further develop.
Step 1: Create a schedule for previewing.
Scheduling a set time on a specific day helps make previewing a priority and a habit (for example, always preview for your Tuesday morning Economics class at 7pm on Mondays).
Next, prioritize which resources to preview. If the instructor posts the PowerPoint slide deck in advance, preview this first. The PowerPoint slide deck contains the main ideas and content that will be presented in class so engaging with this material in advance is important. Next, prioritize required readings, such as an associated textbook unit.
To begin previewing, it is recommended to find the PowerPoint, chapter, unit, lecture or lab learning objectives. Learning objectives give you a clear idea of what you should be focusing on. They outline the key concepts and skills you are expected to learn, helping you to prioritize your reading and study efforts. Learning objectives are typically located in the course syllabus, in the PowerPoint slides, and assigned textbook chapters. Read all the objectives to yourself. If you can, read these out loud. Reading aloud involves more than one sense and is a helpful and simple way to encode your learning for better storage and retention and also supports better focus.
Step 2: Skim the resources to identify main ideas and concepts.
Start by reading the titles of all resources for the associated lesson. For example, read the chapter title to start. If included, read the introduction or overview, and summary or conclusion. Then, read all the resource headings, whether slide headings, chapter headings, or research article headings. Finally, if available, skim guiding questions and key terms or concepts. If you can read all this content aloud.
Skimming this information allows your brain to quickly engage with the main ideas, concepts, and learning objectives for the resources and lesson. Doing so will warm up your brain and prime its ability to reflect and tap into prior knowledge. The purpose of skimming is NOT to try to understand and learn the material, but rather quickly 'cherry-pick' the main concepts.
Step 3: Take time to reflect and predict your learning by asking yourself questions that will help you set expectations, activate prior learning, and increase your engagement.
Based off the content you have skimmed consider the following reflection questions.
Taking some time to reflect (again out loud) will further prime your brain’s ability to comprehend and store information from the preview resources. Activating prior knowledge and predicting learning supports your initial understanding of material and prepares you to learn more effectively.
Step 4: Read the resource in intervals by setting a goal.
Humans focus and best retain knowledge in intervals of approximately 30-45 minutes. Interacting with less material strengthens our ability to more thoroughly comprehend and remember what we read. When we study for too long cognitive overload occurs (the amount of information and mental effort required exceeds the brain's capacity to process it effectively). It is recommended to set your first study interval 'goal' or 'target' based on your energy, focus, interest, and the topic complexity. For example, if during the warm-up activity described above you feel you are interested in the topic and feel motivated to learn, set a goal of about 45 minutes. For topics that are more difficult or less interesting, set a shorter goal. Some learners like to set a timer for their interval. Another option is to set a 'target', such as read 10 pages. Setting a goal increases motivation, provides clear direction and purpose and strengthens focus and productivity. Remember, read out loud as doing so improves concentration and encoding.
Copying written content verbatim and highlighting text are passive learning approaches requiring little cognitive effort. Instead, read with intention and look for main ideas, concepts, processes and facts. Try to identify and write down ONLY those words that are key to each sentence, concept, or idea. These become cue words. Cue words act as mental triggers, helping you recall larger chunks of information. When it comes time to review your notes, having cue words highlighted makes it easier to quickly refresh your memory and focus on the most important aspects of the material. This also supports more effective recall. This technique leverages the brain’s ability to remember concise, meaningful pieces of information.
When you finish the interval, set a goal or target for your next interval.
Step 5: After you achieve your interval goal and before you start the next one, take a break of 10-15 minutes.
Breaks should be viewed as a reward and motivator. Breaks also support your brain’s ability to consolidate what you just learned. Consider doing something that feels good and is productive, such as a walk, lift some weights, prep a meal, or clean up the kitchen. Exercise is a key component to your well-being as it helps manage anxiety and sharpens your ability to learn and think quickly. Do not do something during the break that requires cognitive effort as this may result in forgetting information you just learned. For example, avoid emailing, texting, or social media.
When you return from your break you will be recharged.
Step 6: Returning refreshed from a break presents a good opportunity to further consolidate your learning. Take a few minutes and reflect on what you learned in your last interval and try to recall aloud what you remember.
Do not look at your notes to do this. Recalling what we recently learned is an effective way of retaining your learning and is also a great way to check how well you have learned.
For some students it may be beneficial to walk around while they reflect. Using multiple senses (read aloud, move around, or sign if you communicate by ASL) supports stronger encoding of knowledge. This is called dual coding.
After you have recalled your interval learning, it is time to assess your progress. A good strategy is to look at all the key words you have written down from the interval and check off those you recalled well and circle those that you missed or do not understand well. This is called a recall accuracy check.
After you have checked your recall for accuracy, write a succinct summary of what you have learned in your own words.
Finally, it is important to develop critical thinking skills to support deeper engagement with content. Try to create a few questions that help connect ideas and concepts from the interval.
Now you have done a thorough job of learning for that interval.
Move onto the next interval and repeat the above process.
Step 7: The final previewing step is to test your learning from the resource.
When you have finished previewing take one more break and again do something active or productive (go for a run). You may need to set a timer to remember to end the break and return to your studies.
When you return from a break, come back and try to recall aloud everything you have previewed (without looking at your notes). Then read all your section summaries you have created. You can test your learning by doing chapter quizzes or even answering the critical thinking questions you have created along the way. Another good strategy is to make some flashcards for difficult concepts and processes.
RECALL YOUR LEARNING FROM CLASS/LAB
Due to factors such as cognitive overload, fatigue, lack of interest and attention, students forget much of what they learn after lectures and labs. The majority of our forgetting occurs within the first few hours and continues to decline as time passes.
It is therefore vital to engage with your learning soon after class. Doing so helps better retain your learning and supports critical thinking skills.
A useful and simple strategy is to recall your learning from class. Even 15 minutes of recall makes a difference. There are several ways to recall your learning from class.
One option is to explain your learning to a classmate. Try to recall what you learned from class and summarize it off the top of your head like you are teaching your classmate. Then, your classmate can do the same. To support critical thinking, ask each other questions about the content.
If explaining your learning to someone else is not an option for you, recall your learning from class alone and recite it aloud. Consider walking around like you are presenting.
You can then check your recall for accuracy by reviewing your class notes and evaluating what you recalled well, forgot, or do not understand.
Another option is to summarize your class notes into succinct bullet points. Remember, these summaries are a great resource for studying for assessments.
Lastly, if available, you can take or retake the textbook chapter quiz to see how you do or even answer chapter critical thinking or guiding questions.
To make active recall after class a habit consider setting a recurring reminder for yourself to perform this critical learning task after your class. To maximize recall it is best to engage with the lecture material as soon as possible after class.
SPACED RECALL, REVIEW AND PRACTICE
To support long-term retention, you should recall and review ALL key concepts, facts, processes etc. at least once per week. It is recommended to create a one- or two-page master cue-sheet (or summaries) for each week’s content (unit/class/lab) that you use to recall your learning. Instead of reviewing or rereading notes to start your study session, brainstorm what you recall about your study topic. Stand up and recall as much as you can out loud. This helps to kickstart your memory and test your knowledge. You can then use the master cue sheet as a prompt to add more detail from memory. Your recall performance can then be used to guide your study efforts.
Set aside a weekly time in your calendar to make sure you commit to consistently engaging with materials. Be sure to review the previous summaries (cue sheets) each week to help combat the forgetting curve. For example, if it is week three of the term, recall and review weeks one and two before reviewing your week three learning.
Concentrate on making connections between concepts and ideas as you review your learning. Often you will find that difficult concepts from previous lectures are clarified as you review more recent information.
For courses that have formulas, calculations, and processes, set aside time to practice these consistently. Be sure to test yourself periodically, by doing practice quizzes, revisiting unit guiding questions and considering practical applications of your knowledge, such as examples and case studies.
Write down review and practice sessions into your schedule to make them a consistent habit.