Importance Of Active Learning Strategies

The significance of active learning strategies is widely recognised. Past educational research has exhibited the success of teaching and learning activities that actively and collaboratively engage learners in the learning process irrespective of their age. Use of effective questioning can also improve the learning process and the teacher can assess pupils’ prior knowledge and understanding during the lesson to check whether pupils are progressing or not. In the past, when teaching science only involved standing in the front of the class and addressing for one hour to an audience of note-taking pupils. Such practice often results in information being passed from the teacher to pupils’ notebooks without bothering the minds of either. The development

In addition to the definition stated earlier, Bonwell and Eric (1991) emphasise the pupil engagement in activities that involve reading, discussing and problem solving. Authors anticipated research conducted by Leamnson (1999) and others who described learning as ‘stabilising through repeated use and certain appropriate synapse in the brain’. This means pupils’ brains must be active while learning and not just that of teacher. Like Zull (2011), I also believe that education is a ‘lifelong learning built on experience’. Additionally, I agree with Prince (2004) who highlights that “In practice, active learning refers to activities that are introduced into the classroom. The core elements of active learning are pupil activity and engagement in the learning

Recent research by Doyle (2011) also supports this statement and emphasises that the person doing the teaching is far less important than how pupils are taught and what they are expected to do. Taking account of this, I carefully designed and monitored tasks throughout the unit that involve AfL strategies like peer- and self-assessment and often whole group assessments to determine individual