Top 7 Active Learning Strategies

Active learning strategies are ways to make your students more engaged and involved in their own learning process. They can also make your classes more fun and enjoyable for both you and your learners.

Active learning strategies can enhance student motivation, retention, and comprehension, as well as foster collaboration and communication skills. They can also make learning more fun and meaningful for both students and instructors.

Here are 7 examples of active learning strategies that can be beneficial to you, as well as some other ones that you can explore:

– Think-pair-share: This is a simple but effective technique that involves asking a question, giving students some time to think individually, then pairing them up to discuss their answers, and finally sharing their responses with the whole class. This way, students can practice their critical thinking, communication, and collaboration skills.

– Jigsaw: This is a cooperative learning strategy that involves dividing a topic into smaller subtopics, assigning each subtopic to a group of students, having them become experts on their subtopic, and then having them teach it to other groups. This way, students can learn from each other, deepen their understanding of the topic, and develop their leadership and presentation skills.

– Role-play: This is a creative and fun strategy that involves having students act out different scenarios or characters related to the topic. For example, you can have students role-play as famous bloggers, interviewers, or influencers. This way, students can practice their speaking, listening, and empathy skills, as well as explore different perspectives and opinions. You have to understand how to implement active this learning strategies

– Quiz: This is a classic but still effective strategy that involves testing students’ knowledge or comprehension of the topic. You can make it more interactive and fun by using online tools like Kahoot or Quizlet, or by adding elements of gamification like points, badges, or leaderboards. This way, students can review what they have learned, get immediate feedback, and compete with each other in a friendly way.

– Brainstorming: This is an ideation strategy that involves having students generate as many ideas as possible related to the topic, without judging or evaluating them. You can use a whiteboard, a flipchart, or sticky notes to record the ideas. This way, students can unleash their creativity, stimulate their imagination, and discover new possibilities.

– Peer feedback: This is a formative assessment strategy that involves having students give constructive comments and suggestions to each other’s work. You can use rubrics, checklists, or criteria to guide the feedback process. This way, students can improve their work quality, learn from their peers’ strengths and weaknesses, and develop their self-regulation and metacognition skills.

– Case studies: Students analyze real-world scenarios or problems and apply their knowledge and skills to propose solutions or recommendations.