Introduction to Active Learning Energizing the Classroom Brian Rybarczyk, Ph.D. UNC Chapel Hill Department of Biology

Objectives Introduce concept of active learning Demonstrate techniques & activities Incorporate active learning into your future teaching

da Vinci and the Renaissance Embodies essence of the Renaissance ‘Rebirth’ of learning Thinking outside the box Ideas Discovery Experiment Change is good

Write down ways that your professors taught you Brainstorm Activity Write down ways that your professors taught you Effective methods Ineffective methods

Brainstorm Activity II What are some ways you learn best now as a scientist?

What is Active Learning? 100 active learning lecture % Retained 50 10 20 30 40 50 60 Time of class (min) From: McKeachie, Teaching tips: Strategies, research and theory for for college and university teachers, Houghton-Mifflin (1998)

What is Active Learning?

What is Active Learning? students solve problems, answer questions, formulate questions of their own, discuss, explain, debate, or brainstorm during class Problem-Based Learning Cooperative Learning Learn By Doing Inquiry-based learning Active Learning

What is the purpose? Increase student participation Increase student engagement Increase student retention More student ownership in course Less lecturing by instructor More exciting classroom experience Higher level thinking

Improving Lectures Plan objectives Include graphics, charts, graphs, etc Plan what you want to annotate Learn students’ names Cue important points Give short activities Give students time to generate questions Have students summarize major points

Examples of Active Learning Dr. Robert Beichner – NCSU SCALE-UP – researching effectiveness of active learning in physics and chemistry http://scaleup.ncsu.edu/ Example of SCALE-UP Activity

Active Techniques Think-pair-share (pair-share) Role playing, simulations Muddiest point/clearest point Group quizzing Generate lists Cooperative learning Minute papers and writing assignments PBL and case studies Concept maps

Reading Primary Literature Provide one figure/table to each student group Propose a title for the paper Delete abstract and have students write a summary

Case Studies

Case Studies

Concerns & Issues What are your concerns about using active learning activities & techniques?

Suggestions Describe to the students what is happening and why State expectations Incorporate assessments with activities Start off simple (low risk) Ask questions, walk around classroom, be attentive to student questions Have students rely on each other

Resources National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science (case study collection): http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/projects/cases/case.html Problem Based Learning (U of Delaware): http://www.udel.edu/pbl/ MERLOT – (Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching http://www.merlot.org Journals of Interest: Innovate: www.innovateonline.info/index.php CBE Life Science Education – www.lifescied.org/ Journal of College Science Teaching – www.nsta.org Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education – www.bambed.org

Brian Rybarczyk, Ph.D. brybar@unc.edu