ENGAGING STUDENTS IN ACTIVE LEARNING THROUGH

CAREFULLY DESIGNED STUDENT ACTIVITIES

Jingzi Huang, Ph.D

School of Teacher Education,

CEBS

UNC 2013 Fall GTA Conference Presentation

Expected Outcomes

Articulate your perception of teaching as a way to facilitate learning;

Identify some characteristics of teaching practice that lead to active learning;

List and describe at least four activities you could design for the course you will be teaching;

Come up with one question regarding an area of teaching you want to explore further

What is learning?

How do you know learning is occurring? If your students have not learned, have

you taught? How does learning take place?

Teaching that is Engaging Think-pair-share:

Describe one occasion in you past student experience when you felt that the teacher was “teaching” hard, but you did not gain anything.

Describe one occasion in you past student experience when you felt that you did learn something from the lesson taught by your teacher.

Describe what you would like your students to gain out of each lesson you will teach?

Knowledge; Performance; Cognitive development: thinking skills; Attitudes/dispositions towards learning and

the targeted field of studies

Some characteristics of teaching practice that lead to active learning

Areas for Consideration

COURSE ORGANIZATION AND PLANNING

COMMUNICATION

FACULTY-STUDENT INTERACTION

Some characteristics of teaching practice that lead to active learningI. COURSE ORGANIZATION AND PLANNING

Objectives that are clear to both you and your students;Design and implementation of instructional activities aligned with

the objectives

II. COMMUNICATIONClarity;Style, manner;Enthusiasm for subjectEncouragement of critical thinking by students;Effective use of appropriate teaching techniques and teaching

aids.

III. FACULTY-STUDENT INTERACTIONNature of student participation;Extent of student interest and participation;Sensitivity to student reactions.

Engaging Activities: Organization and Planning

Objectives indicating observable outcomes:SWAT list five…SWAT conduct the experiment…SWAT explain how…SWAT justify… based on analyzing evidence …

Activities targeting the outcomes:In small groups, students search for evidence …Present their conclusion with the support of…

Engaging Activities: Communication

Clarity – use of multiple ways of communication:

verbal, non-verbal, visual, board, pictures, etc.

Style, manner: facilitator, encouraging, firm;

Enthusiasm for subject: contagious sentiment;

Encouragement of critical thinking by students:

questions at different cognitive levels:

knowledge, comprehension, application,

analysis, synthesis, evaluation.

Effective use of appropriate teaching techniques

and teaching aids: varies by content and topics

Engaging Activities: Faculty-Student Interaction

Nature of student participation - motivated learners Carefully thought out questions that help students see the

relevance; Leave room for students to explore and earn a sense of

ownership; Extent of student interest and participation – everyone should be on

task most of the time: Pair/group work Active listening: tangible tasks for listening Peer evaluation

Sensitivity to student reactions – students’ responses are valued: Utilize wait time; Acknowledge effort; Encourage elaborated explanation; Recognize new/different perspective; Promote peer response.

Conclusion

What strategies do you think you can try in your teaching?

Please identify an area you would like to explore more.