While it might be tempting to view “active learning” as another educational buzzword, a large body of research demonstrates that active and collaborative classrooms produce deeper and more long-lasting learning, in addition to improving student confidence, attendance, engagement, retention, and exam scores. These results are hardly surprising. When we move from a traditional, teaching-focused model of education (the classroom as a space where the professor performs their expertise) to a learning-focused model (the classroom as a space where students engage actively with course material), we invite every student, not just the few capable of following our lectures, into the learning experience. What’s more, disaggregated data from multiple studies of active learning shows accelerated benefits for underrepresented groups and first-generation students. In face of such manifest rewards, embracing active learning should be a no brainer. And yet, instructors may hesitate to implement a more active approach due to ingrained academic habits, student resistance, or scarcity of time. Even our academic spaces, physical and virtual, tend to be designed with a traditional, top-down educational model in mind. In spite of these potential hurdles, instructors willing to shift towards a more hands-on, learning-centered model are likely to see rewards in the form of greater engagement, improved scores, and, most importantly, deeper and longer-lasting learning.

Active Learning and the Science of Learning

The traditional university course–a series of lectures followed by a final exam–has had a long run in academia. Even for the minority of students who appear to thrive within this familiar model, the traditional lecture course tends to promote transient (rather than deep and lasting) learning. For the majority of students, such courses provide neither the motivation nor the structure needed for meaningful academic success. In contrast, courses that incorporate active learning (actively engaging with the learning process through thinking, problem-solving, discussion, application, creation, etc.) deliver deeper, more enduring results. A meta-analysis conducted by Freeman et. al. demonstrates, based on over two hundred peer-reviewed studies, that active learning environments are more effective than those that rely solely on continuous exposition by the instructor.

Active learning can take many forms, from implementing two-minute processing breaks (or pause procedures) in the middle of a lecture to wholesale flipped classrooms, where content delivery takes place outside of class, while class time is dedicated to problem solving and application. The degree and duration of active learning intervals will depend on the specific goals of each course and instructor. Designing an active learning environment means attending not just to course content but also to student learning (asking questions like: What do my students already know/understand? What do they not understand? Can they explain the material to a peer? Do they see how the parts fit together? Can they apply their understanding to a new problem? Can they link course content to out-of-class events/interests/values?). While the transition from a traditional “sage on the stage” instructor role to a “guide of the side” approach (to use a familiar educational cliche) does involve an investment of time and thought, integrating active learning, at whatever level seems appropriate and realistic for your course, can transform the classroom experience for your students–and for you.

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Collaborative Learning

Not all active learning is collaborative, but all collaborative learning is active. Collaborative learning is premised on the social constructivist idea that knowledge construction takes place within communities of inquiry: in the academic classroom, this approach involves a shift of emphasis from passive to active engagement. Rather than waiting to receive fully-baked, authoritative content from their instructor, the students’ job is to bring their existing knowledge structures (academic, social, cultural, linguistic) into the classroom and become collaborators in the messy process of collective meaning-making. 

Given so many positive outcomes, why do so many students and instructors dread group work? One answer is that successful collaboration does not happen on its own. It needs to be structured, facilitated, and nourished. Well-designed and well-executed collaborative activities, whether class discussion, peer instruction, group work, or group projects, have the potential to become some of our students’ most meaningful and enduring learning experiences. 

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Active and Collaborative Learning Strategies

Introducing active and collaborative learning into the classroom can take many forms, depending on the needs and goals of each individual class, instructor, and student cohort. Some forms of collaborative learning (like think-pair-share) require little instructor effort, while others (like role-playing games) might require thoughtful design and preparation. While each instructor needs to gauge the appropriate balance of content delivery and student engagement, any academic course can benefit from pedagogical techniques that help students shift from passive to active class participation, and leverage the power of community for effective, meaningful, and lasting learning.

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