Practice What You Assess:
In the past decade there has been a major shift in education toward fostering and active learning environment in classrooms. Teachers that have employed this approach generally find that it raises student motivation, especially when the coursework is perceived as relevant by students. Bonwell and Eison have described active learning as involving activities which lead them to think about what they are doing (Bonwell and Eison, 1991). According to Fink, students retain greater amounts of knowledge when they are able to acquire that knowledge thought active rather than passive channels (Fink, 2003). To make learning more active, teachers need to consider strategies for incorporating experiential learning and interactive dialog. Fink suggests two guiding principles when choosing learning activities (Fink, 2003). First, activities should be chosen from each of the following three components of active learning: Information and Ideas, Direct Experience, and Reflective Dialog.
 Information and Ideas includes the student performing research based on primary and secondary sources, whether those sources are obtained in the classroom setting, outside class, or even online.
Experience includes doing, observing, practice, and simulation.
Reflective dialog includes writing papers, creating art portfolios, and journaling.
Second, whenever possible, direct kinds of learning activities should be used. Examples of direct learning activities include active participation in a lesson through group discussion, journaling, or role-play. Indirect activities include observation of an event, listening to stories, or watching a video.
One very important ingredient of active learning is in-depth reflective dialog. This provides students with the opportunity to reflect on the meaning of their learning activity. A student can engage in self-reflection through journaling, or with the class as in whole class or small group discussion. Fink (2003) stresses that in the case of reflective writing, students should address the following questions: What am I learning? What is the value of what I am learning? How am I learning: What else do I need to learn?
When teachers think about a lesson’s objective, they will want to consider the kinds of activities which will encourage active learning and facilitate the development of critical thinking skills. To enhance the overall learning experience they will want to expand the view of active learning to include getting the needed information and ideas (research), direct experience (either direct or indirect), and reflection. |
