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Show page 16 lessons, Fail 2006 m "1CTLE CORNER Active Learning: Let's Work Those Brains BY KIM WELCH, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR Do you ever get frustrated when your students ask you a question that would have been answered had they been listening to you just two sentences previous? Or, have you ever been astonished when students claim that you didn't teach them something that was on the test-knowing full well that you could pull out the exact PowerPoint slide where the information was explicitly spelled out? How does it feel when your students tell you that you're not teaching them what they need to know when you've scrupulously gone through every detail? Now, don't think I'm taking sides here, but there might be more to your students' claims than we fully realize. Let me explain. In ancient times, aspiring sages sat at the feet of the masters to bask in their superior knowledge and intellect. Soon, buildings were constructed and stadium seating was added in order to accommodate large masses of people who could then feel this enriching transfer of information. How practical! How exciting that so many would soon come to the same level of knowledge as the masters! This tradition was then passed along from generation to generation and, during the Middle Ages, institutions of higher learning took this format and started the makings of what our colleges and universities are today. What a magnificent link to our historical roots to know that we benefit from the same format of instruction that Copernicus experienced during his time! However, as your students might suggest, the magnificence stops there. We're now finding that whoever thought that this was the best way to learn didn't have the advantages of brain science and the research of cognitive studies to guide them. Now that we have these resources, it's high time we make a change. Activity Idea A simple, time-friendly collaborative activity for use in large or small settings: Think-Pair-Share 1. Pose a thought-provoking question 2. Give sufficient time for individuals to think {a time limit would be good) 3. Pair the students so that individuals feel more comfortable sharing in front of the entire class (again, a time limit would be helpful) 4. Ask a student to share either his/her own ideas or the ideas of his/her neighbor. Cognitive and Brain-based Research on Learning In the early to mid-1900s, psychologists started to recognize that real learning was much more than just listening to a dissertation or lecture. Kurt Lewin and John Dewey began to see patterns for learning that required experience, reflection, and, quite often, collaboration with other individuals (see www.infed.org/thinkers for more information on Lewin and Dewey). Later, David Kolb created an entire cyclical process for learning which included experience, reflection, active hypothesizing, and active testing. In the last 15 to 20 years, brain scientists have added to Lewin, Dewey, and Kolb's theories by honing in on the scientific nature of the learning process within the brain [see Zull, J. E. (2002). The art of changing the brain: Enriching the practice of teaching by exploring the biology of learning. Stylus: Sterling, VA]. Brain scientists have backed these learning theories by noting the following pattern within these functions of the brain: |