Students learn more when actively engaged. Moving around the classroom, doing hands-on activities, and participating in group work are strategies that encourage students to learn and discover information on their own.
When thinking about active teaching and learning:
- You should integrate questioning opportunities into lectures and help students make connections between what they are hearing and what they already know. If the learning is meaningful to them, it is less likely to be forgotten.
- You should create collaborative learning opportunities in which students will use real-world problems that are likely to be found in career situations.
- You should allow students to take an active role in the daily activities of class, such as setting up technology, taking notes on the board, or distributing handouts, and gradually build the level of activity each time you teach the course. Notice how the students respond to these roles. You will find that active involvement often increases motivation.
