Active learning is desirable because students retain more of the presented information when they figure it out themselves. Instead of a traditional lecture setting, where the teacher presents information and the students absorb it, active learners participate and the instructor acts as a guide and answers questions. Research indicates that students engaged in active learning retain and generalize the information better than their peers in traditional instruction. In addition, enrichment activities give children a chance to experiment with occupations and think about future career paths.
Students acquire new information in a variety of ways, and most people have a preferred mode of learning. The primary modes of learning are visual, auditory and kinesthetic, also sometimes called tactile. Multisensory instruction engages multiple intelligences, is considered ideal for students with learning disabilities and is beneficial to their non-disabled peers as well.
Most classroom enrichment activities engage more than one subject area. This reinforces learning in language, mathematics, science, social studies and socialization skills. This teaching style is beneficial because it simulates real-world activities. In daily life, students encounter problems that require multiple areas of knowledge to solve. Teaching activities that mimic this give students practice drawing on their knowledge and applying it in multiple areas.
Classroom enrichment activities can be as involved or as simple as the teacher's time and resources allow. Some teachers set up classroom centers that extend previous lessons. The centers have activities that student do independently, and often have further reading or audio and video presentations. Others hold science or social studies fairs where children participate in individual or group projects and present them to their peers. A class science experiment encourages students to act out and use the scientific method instead of just memorizing vocabulary about it. Enrichment activities do not have to be in the classroom -- a field trip to an active dig site can stimulate interest in archeology or paleontology.