Considerations for Teaching in Active Learning Classrooms

Preparing you to teach in your Active Learning Classroom

Reference:
The University of Minnesota. (2012). Considerations for Teaching in Active Learning Classrooms. Retrieved from The University of Minnesota: http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/teachlearn/alc/considerations/index.html

Contents page
Considerations to prepare yourself for teaching in ALC Challengers that you as a ACL teacher might face Room issues Noise and distractions Student engagement Tips to encourage productive group work in the ALCs Approaches to group work Cooperative learning Team-based learning

Considerations, to prepare yourself for teaching in Active Learning Classrooms

Observe others using the room as an ALC Familiarise yourself with the technology in the room Make your students aware of the reason why your using an ALC, this helps to keep them informed, empowered partners in the learning process Be persuasive when describing the benefits of active and collaborative learning Discuss that you understand that ALC is a big change for them as learners Be alert about difficulties students may face

Incorporate opportunities during lessons to gain feedback from students regarding the use of ALC in their learning A big advantage of ALC is that you receive constant feedback on what the studnets understand and what they do not Be flexible. ACL classroom are not suitable to lecture like lessons, they are designed for student activity learning Address frequently identified problems immediately with the whole class. Remain flexible about student learning

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Challengers that you as a ALC teacher might face

Room issues
where things are working in the space given and with the accessible resource you have the size of the resources compared to the space available to use them Constant interactions at tables can result in a noisy environment Set expectations to high standards to keep students on task The use of laptop allows students access to Facebook, email, games, Twitter and other computer resources not related to class activities ALCs are right for all students Establish a comfortable atmosphere for student learning Help studnets to take ownership for their own learning Hold studnets accountable both as groups and as individuals in their learning

Noise and distractions

Student engagement

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Tips to encourage productive group work in the ALCs

The

more intentional you are, the better student groups will function Create student groups purposefully Take advantage of the table organisation Have students work in groups to review different material discussed in lessons immediately after the material is covered Grade on both individual and group performance Teach student how to work in groups effectively
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Approaches to group work

Both the cooperative learning and team-based learning approaches are designed to create effective group activities when applied correctly to learning environments

Cooperative learning is the intentional use of groups to facilitate student learning. There are five elements necessary for successful cooperative learning: 1. Positive interdependence - each student depends on and is accountable to the others 2. Individual accountability each student in the group learns the material 3. Promotive interaction student group members help one another 4. Social skills leadership and communication 5. Group processing assessing how effective they are working with one another

Cooperative learning

Teams of students prepare individually and work together to apply important concepts during assignments for particular time frames (1-2 weeks). TBL has several critical features: Teams are permanent having a diverse mix of students per group Students are held accountable for both team contributions and individual preclass preparations Team assignments must promote significant learning and team development Students receive frequent and timely feedback

Team-Based learning

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