Active learning engages students, particularly those who might disengage from learning due to an inability to keep up or simply low interest. It also teaches students, through hands-on experiences, how to apply learning, moving learning from the abstract to the more concrete ways of understanding. In active learning, teachers focus on students, and students participate in their own learning -- setting their own goals, identifying their own trouble spots, and evaluating their own work. The classroom atmosphere is safe and supportive and conducive to speaking, listening and learning, with students continuously engaging in discussion, hands-on learning, questioning and peer exchanges.
Different students have different learning styles, some have more than one. Learning styles are learning strengths, and they can make the difference in how new information is best remembered and how it can be most effectively taught. The most effective instruction teaches to individual learning styles so that it engages students. Visual learners learn by seeing information and taking it in graphically through pictures, print, Internet searching and PowerPoint shows. When coupled with hearing, learning is enhanced for visual learners. Auditory learners learn by hearing; they remember what is said and study well when they can repeat information verbally. While they can also be distracted by sound, they can also be distracted by silence. Optimal conditions for the auditory learner involve a healthy mix of hearing, seeing, and doing. Kinesthetic learners learn best through hands-on tasks and activities. Writing, using manipulatives, putting models together, working in teams, creating collaborative projects and using technology are strategies that work to engage the kinesthetic learner.
When students work collaboratively, they learn important skills about teamwork and independent, pooled effort. While students and teachers work together, students take responsibility for their learning by fulfilling team responsibilities, taking on roles, and helping each other problem solve. Collaborative learning activities involve a strong shift from the traditional teacher-centered approach in the classroom, where students listen to a lecture and take notes. It also involves hands-on experience with learning, which leads to better and higher understanding. Authors Barbara Leigh Smith and Jean T. MacGregor, in "Collaborative Learning: A Sourcebook for Higher Education," recommend a focus on teacher presentation of new material as well as collaborative learning activities that center exclusively on student application of newly learned material to be most effective.
Classroom assessment is important, and to truly benefit students, it must be used to evaluate knowledge prior to new learning, while learning is taking place and after learning. Classroom assessment techniques can be in the form of tests and quizzes, or it can be formative and hands-on where material produced out of new learning can be used to evaluate student learning. Planning for instruction can be greatly enhanced through classroom assessment that allows teachers to focus instruction on what skills students have in place, what they are struggling with and what their strengths are. This can be achieved through observation while students are learning, evaluation of projects using rubric criteria that sets forth the expectations, and more formal assessment such as tests and quizzes developed specific to a task or activity. Thomas Angelo and Patricia Cross, authors of "Classroom Assessment Techniques: A Handbook for College Teachers," claim that involvement of students and teachers in the monitoring of student learning results in focused feedback about teacher effectiveness, as well as student progress.