Teaching
Excellence

TOWARD THE BEST IN THE ACADEMY

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Vol. 4, No. 3, 1992-1993

 

 

Risky Business:

Making active learning a reality

Charles C. Bonwell
Southeast Missouri State University

In recent years several na- .

tional reports and many recog-
nized experts have called for the
introduction of active learning
techniques into college class-
rooms. Chickering and Gamson
(1987), for instance, suggest the
following: ’

Learning is not a spectator
sport. Students do not learn much
Just by sitting inclass listening to
teachers, memorizing prepack-
aged assignments, and spitting
outanswers. They musttalk about
what they are learning, write
about it, relate it to past experi-
ences, apply it totheir daily lives.
They must make what they learn
part of themselves.

A growing body of research
does clearly show that if the goals
of the instructor are to develop
higher order thinking skills or to
change students’ attitudes, then
active learning strategies must be
used in conjunction with the tra-
ditional lecture. [For a review of
the literature, see Bonwell and
Eison (1991).]

Itis one thing to acknowledge
the need for active learning; it is
quite another to successfully use
itin the classroom. In many work-
shops faculty have articulated bar-
riers to using active learning: one
most commonly presented is the
element of risk. Indeed there are

several risks associated with us-
ing active learning in the class-
room. For instance, since the
norm is straight lecturing, there is
the risk that students will be unfa-
miliar with different techniques
and therefore resistant to them.
Also, students often prefer the
passive role of listener ina lecture
setting because it is easier to take
notes than to become actively en-
gaged in the learning process.

From the perspective of fac-
ulty, few have role models for
anything other than lecture and
many, lacking experience or guid-
ance, have painful memories of
disastrous attempts to be innova-
tive. Even those who do not lack
self-confidence may find them-
selves hesitant to use active learn-
ing because they risk being viewed
by their colleagues as teaching in
an unorthodox fashion. This is
especially true for junior faculty
who must face the ngors of evalu-
ation for tenure and promotion.
Finally, most faculty are com-
fortable with their perceived role
as expert in the classroom and
they find it difficult to relinquish
control in a setting where there is
shared responsibility for learn-
ing.

Exploring what's possible

For those who do want to de-
velop active learning as an ad-
junct to their lectures, there are

positive steps that can be taken.
hough the classroom use of ac-
tive learning strategies will al-
ways involve some Tevel of risk,
by carefully selecting only those
active learning strategies that are
at a personally comfortable risk
level, oe can maximize your like-
lihood of success. For instance,
look at the following possibilities
(listed in roughly ascending or-
der of risk] and then select those
that you have not used in the past,
but might be willing to use in the

future:

1) field trips/library tours;

2) feeder pauses during a
ecture so that students can
work in pairs and compare
notes;

3) short quizzes for immedi-
ate feedback on students’
comprehension of mate-
rial;

4) in-class writing;

5) demonstrations;

6) surveys or questionnaires;

7) self-assessment activities;

8) lectures with short discus-
sions interspersed;

9) brainstorming;

10) case studies;

11)extended discussions
based on audiovisual ma-
terials or activities 3
through 7 above;

12) small group discussions;

13) role faying;

14) small-group projects/pres-
entations; and

15) guided imagery exercises.

The next step would be to
select one strategy that you be-
lieve you could use in the class-
room. If possible, place the activ-
ity incontext by imagining one of

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