Passive learning methods like lectures, readings and demonstrations remain the mainstay in higher ed, but research tells us that active learning approaches can have much more lasting impact on student learning outcomes.
From small group discussions and project-based learning to experiential field schools and peer teaching, in this episode Ken sums up some compelling evidence from UBC, Queen's, and Guelph that seem to demonstrate that students learn significantly more from deliberate practice and enquiry-based learning than from lecture. Students who collaboratively observe a video of a tutoring session - not a lecture - learn better. Those who made mistakes and were then corrected learned 60% more than those who were guided straight to the correct answer. There are lasting benefits to enquiry-based learning seminars, particularly for "B" students.
Queen's has opened Ellis Hall, a new facility featuring active learning classrooms. https://youtu.be/bJDCgeaK44E
80% of Generation Z prefer to study with friends, and 40% will do so on Skype if not in person. That social orientation of students may be driving the creation of learning commons and social space on campuses from St Mary's U to the U of Calgary.
Small adjustments to the lecture theatre can improve student engagement. George Brown College's new learning studios allow classes to shift from lecture to group discussions and back. Iowa State U has installed seats that swivel 240 degrees in double-wide rows that allow for group work. Oregon State U opened the new Learning Innovation Center last fall, including 2 "in the round" lecture halls that hold 600 students, all within 15 feet of the instructor. Active learning classrooms date back at least 20 years, to the SCALE-UP classrooms at North Carolina State U. Students sit in clusters of 9, and students learn better 88% of the time (particularly female students). The model has been emulated at hundreds of campuses.
UBC's Sauder School of Business recently opened a Flexible Learning Lab. https://youtu.be/LA4Sqb4jrlw
Next week: Experiential Learning. Subscribe now so you don't miss an episode! www.eduvation.ca/subscribe
Just #ICYMI, check out Red River College's new commercial, featuring plenty of active learning: https://youtu.be/giUez0f-N2g
For the hi-res version of this episode, see https://youtu.be/LhlkZuC8Kzc
For more than a thousand years, students have been gathering in lecture halls to listen to the "sage on the stage." But shorter attention spans, new technologies, and empirical testing of learning outcomes have led us to question the tried and true historical "transmission" model of education. In this episode, Ken Steele gives a brief lecture on "the Death of Lecture."
Check out how familiar a 14th-century lecture hall at the Universite di Bologne looks.
Former Quest University president David Helfand explains how the human brain is wired for two-way communication - and the lecture is the opposite of that. https://youtu.be/-J8PcPC7l5U
fMRI studies have demonstrated the impact of curiosity on the brain's ability to soak up new information.
Gen Y and Z have significantly decreased attention spans. They don't have the patience for a 60-minute lecture, and the Columbia University TEDx organizers worry that they don't have the focus for a 16-minute TED talk either. https://youtu.be/wRwPoR707UI
Hundreds of studies have demonstrated that students in lecture classes are 1.5x as likely to fail the course. The lecture is actually "toxic" to student learning, but large first-year lectures subsidize upper-year seminars and graduate studies.
In the past century, most of the innovation in undergraduate teaching and learning has amounted to little more than scaling an outmoded industrial model of education, designed to graduate students into the industrial economy of the 1930s. We need to re-engineering our approach for the 21st century.
Instructors often underuse the active learning methodologies, to rely on passive methods like lecture and demonstrations. Next time, we'll take a closer look at active learning in the classroom.
#ICYMI, Trinity Western University has a dynamic new commercial - and out of 90 seconds, just 1.5 show students in a lecture hall. Seems like a wise idea! https://youtu.be/INPUwp2Fz3k
For exclusive early access to upcoming episodes, subscribe to the Eduvation newsletter! www.eduvation.ca/subscribe
For the hi-res version of this episode, see https://youtu.be/yW_3asg92zM