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Active Learning

Learning actively means being involved in your study. Active learning will enable you to better engage with, and come to a deeper understanding of, the subjects you are studying. 

Several elements are involved in active learning. Developing strategies to target these forms an essential part of the learning process.

Elements of active learning

The essential elements of active learning are:

• Motivation. You need to have the desire to learn and understand.
• Mental transformation and manipulation of material. For example:
• linking the sections of course materials to each other
• seeing course materials from multiple and critical perspectives
• Matching the strategy to the material being learned. You need to be willing to experiment with the learning in subject-appropriate ways.
• Making use of your own preferred learning style. Are you:
  • an active or reflective learner
  • a sensory or intuitive learner
  • a visual or verbal learner
  • a sequential or global learner?
    

Active listening

Listening actively in lectures requires more than just ‘hearing’. You not only need to focus carefully on what is being said, but you also need to interact with the content in various ways. For example, you can:

• summarise the material, review what has been said, anticipate what is to come, and decide on key ideas/concepts
• evaluate, reflect on, and ask yourself questions about the material
• make connections with other material by linking it with your own experience and considering alternative viewpoints.

Before your lecture, prepare to listen actively by anticipating the material:

• do the pre-reading
• print out and read over the lecture slides in your LMS.

During lectures, spend as much time listening and thinking as you do writing notes.

Alternatively, you may like to listen attentively during lectures, reserving the task of taking notes to when you access the slides and listen to the lectures again on the LMS.

Collaborative Learning

Another form active learning can take is collaboration. Collaborative learning involves students working together, using a variety of practices such as:

• brainstorming questions
• discussing topics
• sharing approaches and ideas.

Research shows that working with other people allows you to learn more effectively. By being involved in discussion and asking questions, you are more likely to have a deeper understanding of the subject you are studying. 

Also, remember that working as a team member is one of the most important skills all employers expect you to have.

Online discussions

If you enjoy working on the internet, you can benefit from the technology by including it as a strategy for active learning. Many university courses now include online discussions as an integral part of student participation in a subject.

Participation in an online discussion helps you clarify your ideas because you learn through your interactions with others. It can greatly:

• broaden your perspective on your course material
• develop understanding
• reinforce your learning in the course
• make the course more interesting.

Active learning and memorising

While most of university learning is about understanding and applying concepts and ideas, at times you are required to actually memorise some information.

When you need to memorise complex and detailed material, consider different memorisation techniques and develop methods that suit your own learning style and the subject matter.

Generally speaking, the more important it is for you to remember a piece of information, the more actively you need to engage with it and the more frequently you need to revisit it. To memorise information you need to attend to it, to store it and be able to retrieve it.

Setting up for active learning: Effective work stations

Setting up an appropriate physical space is important in order to start engaging in active learning.

As a student you will probably be working at a desk or using a computer for long periods of time. An organised work station and an awareness of good positioning and effective work practices will assist you to be more productive.

• Try to situate your study area in a place which has minimal distractions and which is pleasant to come back to.
• Aim to keep the area as uncluttered as possible, as this will make it easier to find things and help to reduce stress.
• Avoid prolonged periods at your desk. When working at your computer, take a short break every twenty minutes.

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