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Faculty/Staff
What are other faculty members saying about active learning and the enhancement of higher order thinking skills?
“This university is a perfect place for teaching [higher order thinking] and from a long-term perspective it increases students’ self-confidence, problem-solving abilities, and they know when to approach and avoid problems, and they have better emotional control … across the board, it is all higher-order thinking.”
“Active learning pedagogy is not hard to implement. There are so many techniques to choose from that really the key to using any is to engage students in the process -- explain what you are doing and why. I have found when I do, some students initially may be resistant but even the most begrudging come to see the course material come alive. What was theoretical and abstract becomes appreciated in a new way. We all like to understand the "why" - active learning allows our students not only to do this, but also see "how" the material makes a difference in their lives. They can apply the knowledge to make better sense of their own reality.
Fast Facts: Important facts for faculty and staff members to know about active learning and the enhancement of higher order thinking skills.
1. The diversity of UT Arlington’s student population – with almost half of our students being minority or international students, a majority being women, and over 40% being of non-traditional college age (age 25 or higher) – results in a wide variety of student learning strategies that must be taken into consideration in structuring classes. Despite this variety of learning styles, Meyers and Jones (1993) conclude that “Those who accept the premise that different students will learn in different ways … will find that active-learning strategies not only enliven the classroom but significantly improve their students’ thinking and learning capabilities.”
2. A review of the University’s National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) and Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (FSSE) shows a disparity at the University between faculty’s perceptions of their use of active learning techniques and the students’ perceptions of the impact of such techniques. This finding supported the University’s decision to undertake a systematic, University-wide intervention in the classroom through the QEP, which is designed in part to enhance our students’ ability to make better use of the current active learning efforts reported by our faculty members.
3. Communication between faculty and students is crucial to successfully implementing an active learning strategy in the classroom. “Many active learning techniques fail simply because teachers do not take time to explain them” (Warren, 1997). In addition, providing students with opportunities to offer feedback on the class during the semester may be a way to mitigate student disapproval arising from the introduction of new teaching techniques (Sutherland, 1996).
Sample active learning techniques that could be utilized in your classrooms.
● The modified lecture (including pausing during the lecture to allow discussion)
● Guided lectures and answering open-ended, student-generated questions
● Using primary sources in the classroom
● Cooperative learning
● Simulations and role-playing games
● Interactive problem-solving
● Small-group exercises
● Reading and analyzing passages of text
For more discussion of active learning techniques, click here
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