Active learning

Active learning is defined as a teaching approach, wherein students are engaged and are actively involved in and contributing to the teaching and learning activities planned. This learning approach is perceived as a move from the more traditional teaching format, where the instructor conveys knowledge to the passive students sitting in the auditorium, a one-way line of communication. Active learning puts emphasis on teaching being a two-way street between the instructor and the students:  

There is a heavy amount of research within the concept of active learning, and the research concludes that active learning contributes to promoting conceptual understanding of content, increased performance (higher grades), deep learning, a sense of community, and an increased level of feedback for both instructors and students.   

Active learning is defined as a teaching approach, wherein students are engaged and are actively involved in and contributing to the teaching and learning activities planned. This learning approach is perceived as a move from the more traditional teaching format, where the instructor conveys knowledge to the passive students sitting in the auditorium, a one-way line of communication. Active learning puts emphasis on teaching being a two-way street between the instructor and the students:  

There is a heavy amount of research within the concept of active learning, and the research concludes that active learning contributes to promoting conceptual understanding of content, increased performance (higher grades), deep learning, a sense of community, and an increased level of feedback for both instructors and students.   

Active learning strategies 

Get some inspiration for promoting active learning strategies below or take a look HERE. If you want to talk to a learning consultant, please contact Teaching & Learning at tl@cbs.dk, or contact your LOCAL DEPARTMENT CONSULTANT [link].  

Writing activities

At an appropriate time during the lecture, you can ask the students to take out a blank sheet of paper or open an empty Word document on their laptops. Then state the topic or question you want students to address or answer. For example, “Today, we discussed interest rates and the time value of money. Note what is most important for interest rates to go up and how you define the time value of money”. It could also be done in a shared collaborative Office365 (Word) document, where students contribute to a ‘class notebook’ or write down questions that they are not sure of.

Role playing

In this activity, students can be asked to “act out” a part or a viewpoint to get a better idea of the concepts and theories being discussed. Roleplaying exercises can range from the simple to the more complex – for example, it can be two students standing up in class and acting out the problem, but it could also be the whole class who is involved, acting for example as a court or different citizen groups.

Using cases

Case-based teaching is a widely used approach, especially in the law and business classroom. You can find support for using cases in your teaching at Nordic Case House. Using cases from the real-world trains students’ knowledge application and problem-solving skills. They are forced to use the theories and models you have presented to solve real-world cases and problems. Using guest lecturers from companies can also help increase the active involvement of students, if the guest is presenting some of their recent challenges and proposed solutions.

Game-based learning

Game-based learning is an academic research field of it’s own; the underlying assumption is that game-based learning increases the engagement, motivation and competitiveness of students in the classroom. Game-based learning can take many shapes, including quizzes (with Slido, e.g.), competitions, academic games (such as the BMC game), or regular games used for learning. Using games to introduce complex concepts, or motivating the students to engage with these is evidenced to be an effective way of increasing understanding and the knowledge application of students.

Resources 

Freeman, S., Eddy, S. L., McDonough, M., Smith, M. K., Okoroafor, N., Jordt, H., & Wenderoth, M. P. (2014). Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(23), 8410-8415. 

Hake, R. R. (1998). Interactive-engagement versus traditional methods: A six-thousand-student survey of mechanics test data for introductory physics courses. American Journal of Physics, 66(1), 64-74. 

McCarthy, J. P., & Anderson, L. (2000). Active learning techniques versus traditional teaching styles: two experiments from history and political science. Innovative Higher Education, 24(4), 279-294. 

Prince, M. (2004). Does Active Learning Work? A Review of the Research. Journal of engineering education, 93(3), 223-231. 

Active Learning, Cornell University

Active Learning, University of Minnesota