Rise of Active Learning and Its Impact on Student Engagement

Active learning has increasingly become one of today’s most adopted learning styles. The typical learning through just lectures has now become a thing of the past. The proper involvement of both parties in teaching and learning can make the process easier and more effective. Learning through activities can have a lasting impact on the students’ minds compared to the traditional learning mode. In today’s time when the world is so competitive, it is essential to learn activities which will be useful in daily lives through active participation.

What is Active Learning?

Active Learning can be defined as the type of learning which imparts education through active participation and continuous engagement. It requires students to do meaningful activities that help them learn. These activities help students gain a more profound understanding of the subject matter and help them relate to the situation. By tailoring activities and tasks according to the course, instructors can cultivate powerful knowledge in the students’ minds and make learning more effective. Active learning is mainly taught in students by putting them in groups, which not only enables a constant flow of communication but also helps control emotions. Some of the emotions that the students learn are being patient, the ability to work in teams, showing empathy and many more.

How does active learning work?

Unlike the traditional form of learning, active learning requires full participation. The students are asked to participate in a game or other way of learning, which would accelerate their knowledge-gaining process. Students usually conclude the problems asked in the class by discussing, investigating and making decisions. Active learning can be designed in several ways, which include the following:

• Working on complex topics:
  Design activities around the topics of the subject which are comparatively more complex than the others. This helps reduce confusion and improve understanding of the topic.

• Less Theory:
  Making the content of the topics less theoretical and more practical can help in a better learning process. Immersive learning is what active learning is all about, thus resulting in a better knowledge-gaining process.

• Interaction is the primary key:
  The active learning process depends significantly on communication; thus, interaction is crucial. Even when the students are assigned a particular task, teachers must go around the class and check how everyone is performing. Teachers can pause the activities and ask what the students learn from the task.

• Small explanations:
  To impart the best knowledge to students, a teacher has to know where some of them are getting wrong. Thus, the teacher can pause the class between the activities and give advice and ideas to approach the problem. Going around the class, a teacher would know the thoughts of every student, and that’s how specific clarification regarding the same would be helpful.

• Feedback:
  Feedback about any work can help improve it in many ways. It is very important for students to give feedback about the activities done and the amount learnt, which can help improve the whole learning process. This works both ways, and giving feedback to the students about their work can help in their improvement as well. After every class, a teacher can have a feedback round where both parties would know where they lack and act accordingly.

What is the impact of Active Learning today?

Active learning has a significant impact on student engagement, and some of the reasons for it being impactful are as follows:

• Enhanced Engagement:
  Active learning today plays a pivotal role in enhancing the interest of individuals. The more the students get involved in certain activities, the better their learning process. Active participation helps students to remember certain topics more clearly, which in turn helps them to apply those practically.

• Preparing for the future:
  Active learning helps students learn skills that are pretty useful for the industry. The skills that they learn through this help them get corporate-ready. Students learn practical skills instead of gaining just theoretical knowledge, resulting in being more proficient in their work. The strong critical thinking, communication, and problem-solving skills learnt prepare the student for their upcoming future quite tactfully.

• Lifelong Learning:
  The lessons learned here stay engraved for life as they are learned practically. Active learning allows independent learning without any pressure from exams, and thus, students don’t just learn for the sake of learning but to be equipped with the required and desired knowledge.

• Skill Development:
  One of the major skill developments here is critical thinking. Active learning encourages active participation in activities, which in turn compels students to think critically, analyse the problem, and solve it.

• Interdisciplinary Learning:
  Active learning has encouraged students to explore other disciplinary courses and find their interests. It prepares students to tackle multifaceted problems in sustainability, healthcare, technology, and others. Now, students do not have to focus on just one subject at a time; instead, they can explore their choices all around.

Wrapping Up

Active Learning today has become the most reasonable and logical type of learning. Active learning has opened a new teaching technique, from unrestricted communication to practical knowledge implementation. In today’s fast-paced world, this is how knowledge should be spread. With every passing generation, our ability to focus has decreased. Being in the scenario, new media has made every individual a prosumer, thus resulting in active participation. So, why not include interactivity and continuous feedback in the field of learning as well? Thus, to conclude, for an effective learning process, it is essential to communicate and participate actively in the knowledge-gaining process.