Activ(ating) Learning in Physics 103 and 104

Educators often miscontrue the term “active learning” to mean doing something active in the classroom.  Rather, the term is actually referring to the students be actively engaged in meaning making.  We know, since we’re all learners ourselves, being actively enaged can be a quiet and physically unactive process.  If we unpack the term active learning, what we are really saying is employing active teaching principles that “activate learning.”

Our role as teachers isn’t really to make students learn.  You can see just from the example of writing the word “cat” how much intentional cogntive effort and practice is required for learning.   In the end, learning happens when the students go through the process of  meaning making “drawing the lines” of their cognitive networks.

We can’t make that process happen. Our role is to create the conditions and opportunities for students to practice reoganizing, synthesizing, and applying knowledge.  There are a number of evidence-based, well researched, principles that can support the learning process.

• Intentional and extended practice
• Introduce and model ways of thinking relevant to the discipline
• Opportunities for problem-solving and application (which we might call “active learning”)
• Appropriately scaffolded tasks with limited novel elements
• Metacognitive coaching  and reflective practice
• Learning opportunities are spaced rather than clusterd
• Multiple exposure

Physics 103 and 104 have some of these principles  inherent in the design of the coures.   For example, the “weekly rhythm” is an example of multiple exposure, spacing, and extended practice opportunities.   Clicker questions in Whole Class Meeting, often build on one another, scaffolding the process and integrating novel elments a few at a time.   Opportunities for problem-solving and application are a core element of the courses, from the design labs, to the practice sheets in discussion, to the guided, explicit instruction in Whole Class Meeting.

As an instructor, there are a number of things you can do as well.  Some examples will be provided in the next section.