{"id":97,"date":"2021-09-15T13:27:07","date_gmt":"2021-09-15T17:27:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/itds\/?page_id=97"},"modified":"2025-11-10T10:15:42","modified_gmt":"2025-11-10T15:15:42","slug":"teaching-learning-strategies-practices-active-learning","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/itds\/digital-pedagogy\/pedagogical-strategies-and-practices\/teaching-learning-strategies-practices-active-learning\/","title":{"rendered":"Active Learning"},"content":{"rendered":"

Active Learning<\/strong> is a student-centered approach in which students engage in the learning process. Instructors are facilitators and students are encouraged to interact, engage and reflect. Active learning has been researched, discussed, and implemented for a number of decades. It can be defined in a variety of ways, but all definitions converge around the concept of students actively engaged in their learning, as opposed to passively listening or reading. In other words, when students are involved in coursework that has them interacting with each other or responding to the course material in a manner that engages them beyond the traditional lecture, they are actively learning.<\/p>\n

Studies and contemporary learning theory critique the impact of the traditional lecture on student performance and promote active learning approaches (Freeman et al., 2014).\u00a0 Active learning strategies and techniques can help increase student engagement in coursework, assist students in gaining a deeper understanding of the material, and strengthen their problem-solving skills (Grunert, 1997).<\/p>\n

The Instructional Design and Technology Services Group has compiled successful strategies and examples of research that add to the growing base of knowledge supporting active learning.<\/p>\n

Examples of Active Learning Techniques<\/h2>\n

In order to achieve predetermined learning goals and objectives, instructors should identify and employ instructional strategies to best facilitate the course and engage students throughout their learning experiences. Active learning can be successfully implemented through a variety of strategies and techniques. What follows are a few examples and brief descriptions of how to use them.<\/p>\n