Despite coming from a wide variety of disciplines, the majority of the most eminent writers on pedagogy have highlighted the importance of “active learning”. As Laurillard points out, what Piaget’s constructivism, Marton’s deep learning, Dewey’s inquiry-based education and Pask’s conversation theory have in common is a “recognition that learning concerns what the learner isdoing, rather than what the teacher is doing”, therefore she comments that “the promotion of active learning in a social context should be the focus of our design of the teaching-learning process.”[1] Trigwell, Prosser and Waterhouse, after collating and analysing various quantative and qualitative studies of the relationship between teachers’ approaches to teaching and students’ approaches to learning, suggest “A conceptual change/student-focused approach to teaching is a part of good teaching as that approach is more likely to be associated with higher quality learning outcomes”.[2] This has come to be accepted within Higher Education and active learning is considered good practice. However, recently Hunt and Chalmers have sounded a note of caution, worrying that “this risks a marginalised role for university teachers who have considerable discipline and practice-based expertise to offer.”[3] Instead their "learning centred" approach takes its cue from Cousin, as both recommend a methodology that is “neither student-centred nor teacher centred but something more active, dynamic and in-between”.[4]
One of the earliest essays on active learning, which is subtitled “Creating Excitement in the Classroom”, explains, “Analysis of the research literature […] suggests that students must do more than just listen: they must read, write, discuss, or be engaged in solving problems. Most important, to be actively involved, students must engage in such higher-order thinking tasks as analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.”[5] Very rarely do I lecture and expect my students to “just listen”, rather my course design and lesson planning is focussed around student engagement and creating opportunities for students to participate actively through close reading, writing tasks, discussions and presentations which require them to exhibit deep learning, synthesising and evaluating the knowledge they acquire. However, taking note of Hunt and Chalmers “learning-centred approach”, I am aware that I have “discipline and practice-based expertise to offer” and so see my role both as a facilitator of student conversations and an expert resource for them to draw on. This means setting appropriate readings and providing lesson material that will help the students build a wide and deep knowledge; ensuring that I am well versed in the topics discussed in order to develop and extend their conceptions as required; as well as utilising a carefully targeted questioning strategy to enable students to engage in analysis at a high level appropriate for the MA course I teach.
[1] Diane Laurillard, “E-learning in Higher Education” in Changing Higher Education ed. Paul Ashwin (Routledge:2006) 2-3
[2] Keith Trigwell, Michael Prosser and Fiona Waterhouse, "Relations between teacher's approaches to teaching and students' approaches to learning" Higher Education 37:1 (1999) 67-8
[3] Lynne Hunt and Denise Chalmers, University Teaching in Focus: A Learning Centred Approach (Routledge: 2012) 1
[4] Glynis Cousin, Researching Learning in Higher Education: An Introduction to Contemporary Methods and Approaches (Taylor and Francis: 2009) 270
[5] Charles C. Bonwell and James A. Eison, “Active Learning; Creating Excitement in the Classroom” ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report No. 1 (1991) 3
One of the earliest essays on active learning, which is subtitled “Creating Excitement in the Classroom”, explains, “Analysis of the research literature […] suggests that students must do more than just listen: they must read, write, discuss, or be engaged in solving problems. Most important, to be actively involved, students must engage in such higher-order thinking tasks as analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.”[5] Very rarely do I lecture and expect my students to “just listen”, rather my course design and lesson planning is focussed around student engagement and creating opportunities for students to participate actively through close reading, writing tasks, discussions and presentations which require them to exhibit deep learning, synthesising and evaluating the knowledge they acquire. However, taking note of Hunt and Chalmers “learning-centred approach”, I am aware that I have “discipline and practice-based expertise to offer” and so see my role both as a facilitator of student conversations and an expert resource for them to draw on. This means setting appropriate readings and providing lesson material that will help the students build a wide and deep knowledge; ensuring that I am well versed in the topics discussed in order to develop and extend their conceptions as required; as well as utilising a carefully targeted questioning strategy to enable students to engage in analysis at a high level appropriate for the MA course I teach.
[1] Diane Laurillard, “E-learning in Higher Education” in Changing Higher Education ed. Paul Ashwin (Routledge:2006) 2-3
[2] Keith Trigwell, Michael Prosser and Fiona Waterhouse, "Relations between teacher's approaches to teaching and students' approaches to learning" Higher Education 37:1 (1999) 67-8
[3] Lynne Hunt and Denise Chalmers, University Teaching in Focus: A Learning Centred Approach (Routledge: 2012) 1
[4] Glynis Cousin, Researching Learning in Higher Education: An Introduction to Contemporary Methods and Approaches (Taylor and Francis: 2009) 270
[5] Charles C. Bonwell and James A. Eison, “Active Learning; Creating Excitement in the Classroom” ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report No. 1 (1991) 3