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Activity 3: Assessing your active learning approaches

Activity

Think about your usual classroom practice (i.e. what you usually do when you are teaching).

In the chart below are 15 statements about actions and approaches. We want you to tick (✓) one of the five boxes for each statement. The boxes range from “Very often” on the left-hand side to “Very rarely” on the right. So, for example, if you decide, having read statement 4, that you very frequently ask the students to work in groups, then tick the box on the left (“Very often”).

As you work through the statements, think about why and when you use the approaches listed. Also, think if there are any approaches that you do not use often. If so, why do you think this is?

ACTION/APPROACH VERY OFTEN OFTEN SOMETIMES RARELY VERY RARELY
1 2 3 4 5
1. Students are highly involved in class activities and tests.
2. Students share their ideas with each other and me.
3. Students can relate new concepts to their own lives.
4. Students work in small or larger groups when solving problems.
5. Students use a range of resources to help them try out their ideas (e.g. making models).
6. Students prepare with a partner or team before sharing ideas with the class.  
7. Students debate issues and viewpoints.
8. Students use a variety of library and other resources to develop ideas.
9. Students bring into class information that extends  across subject areas or links topics.
10. Students suggest possible problems that can be addressed.
11. I help students to explore, extend and connect their ideas.
12. I give support for solving problems, but do not give away the answers.

13. I relate new information or problems to what students have already learned.

14. I ask questions that encourage students to think.

15. I provide diagrams or pictures to make information clearer.


Look at your answers and notice whether they are mostly at either the “Very often” or the “Very rarely” side of the table, and think about the kind of classroom you have. Would you say the results indicate that you have a moderately active classroom or a more passive classroom?

Commentary

The checklist in Activity 3 was designed to open up your thinking about your classroom practice. There is no precise response that is right or wrong. If you replied “Very often” to all 15 statements, you might be seen as a “super teacher”! You would not expect any teacher to be doing all those things very frequently. However, if all your responses were “Very rarely,” then perhaps your teaching style is too passive and you are not providing enough opportunities for the students to engage actively in learning.

Now read about the experience of another teacher who was trying to use more interactive teaching strategies.