Teaching, Learning, and Active Engagement Why is active engagement so important for learning?

How Do Students Learn 1? • They learn by actively participating – Observing, speaking, writing, listening, thinking, drawing, doing • They must be engaged to learn – Learning is enhanced when students see potential implications, applications, and benefits to others • Learning builds on current understanding How People Learn (NRC, 1999)

Learning Styles • • How does the person prefer to process information?

Actively

– through engagement in physical activity or discussion

Reflectively

– through introspection

Questionnaire Barbara Soloman & Richard Felder http://www.engr.ncsu.edu/learningstyles/ilsweb.html

Thanks to Robyn Dunbar and Marcelo Clerici-Arias, Stanford University Center for Teaching and Learning

Your Learning Styles -11 Active -9 -7 -5 -3 -1 1 3 5 7 9 11 Reflective Active Reflective

Learning Styles What type of information does the person preferentially perceive?

• •

Sensory

– sights, sounds, physical sensations, data …

Intuitive

– memories, ideas, models, abstract…

Your Learning Styles -11 -9 Sensing -7 -5 -3 -1 1 3 5 7 9 Intuitive 11 Sensory Intuitive

Learning Styles Through which modality is sensory information most effectively perceived?

•

Visual

– pictures, diagrams, graphs, demonstrations, field trips •

Verbal

– sounds, written and spoken words, formulas

Your Learning Styles -11 Visual -9 -7 -5 -3 -1 1 3 5 7 9 11 Verbal Visual Verbal

Learning Styles How does the person progress toward understanding? •

Sequentially

– in logical progression of small incremental steps •

Globally

– in large jumps, holistically

Your Learning Styles -11 -9 Sequential -7 -5 -3 -1 1 3 5 7 9 Global 11 Sequential Global

How Do Students Learn 2? • Different people are most comfortable learning in different ways – Multiple representations enhance the learning of all students

Context for Morning Sessions • Active engagement is important for learning • Students have different learning styles Expand your “toolbox” of teaching strategies Most students passive most students active