Paper Writing Service http://StudyHub.vip/Active-Learning-In-Higher-Education--A- 👈

1. 519
© Springer Science+Business Media Singapore 2015
S.F. Tang, L. Logonnathan (eds.), Taylor’s 7th
Teaching and Learning
Conference 2014 Proceedings, DOI 10.1007/978-981-287-399-6_47
Active Learning in Higher Education:
A Case Study
Yuen Fook Chan, Gurnam Kaur Sidhu, and Lai Fong Lee
Abstract This study is an attempt to analyse the active learning practices among
students and lecturers in a higher learning institute in the United States. This study
is a qualitative study with five undergraduates, five postgraduates and five instruc-
tors as the informants. The instruments used were classroom observations, inter-
views, open-ended section in the questionnaires and relevant document research.
The high level of agreement among students indicated that active learning had been
practised widely in higher education. The finding indicated students in higher edu-
cation were fond of active learning to achieve optimum learning outcomes. The
findings indicated that active learning is best conducted through group discussion,
project and case study and is best used with strategies such as assigned reading,
project paper, case study and reflective writing. The findings proposed that strate-
gies promoting active learning be defined as instructional activities involving stu-
dents in doing things and thinking about what they are doing.
Keywords Active learning • Feedback • Higher education
1 Introduction
1.1 Active Learning
Throughout the 1980s, numerous leaders in the field of higher education (Cross
1987) and a series of national reports (Study Group 1984) repeatedly urged college
and university faculty to actively involve and engage students in the process of
learning.
Consequently, many lecturers assert that all learning is inherently active and that
students are, therefore, actively involved whilst listening to formal presentations in
the classroom (Bonwell and Eison 1991: iii). Furthermore, the analysis of research
Y.F. Chan (*) • G.K. Sidhu • L.F. Lee
Faculty of Education, UiTM, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
e-mail: yuenfook@salam.uitm.edu.my; gurnamsidhu@salam.uitm.edu.my;
leela679@salam.uitm.edu.my

2. 520
literature (Chickering and Gamson 1987) suggests that students must do more than
just listen. They must read, write, discuss or be engaged in solving problems. One
response to these questions is found in the observation that:
Students learn both passively and actively. Passive learning takes place when students take
on the role of “receptacles of knowledge”; that is, they do not directly participate in the
learning process … Active learning is more likely to take place when students are doing
something besides listening. (Ryan and Gretchen 1989: 20)
Increased activity would include making a sustained effort to take exemplary
nonliteral, paraphrased lecture notes, monitoring one’s level of understanding the
subject matter and writing questions in the lecture notes when confused and asking
questions at appropriate points in an instructor’s presentation. Students’ involve-
ment can be further increased by the instructor’s use of such strategies as using
discussion-leading and questioning techniques skilfully to engage students in a per-
sonal exploration of the subject matter, having students engage in short writing
activities in class followed by sharing what they have written in small groups and
using presentations, debates and role-playing activities by students (Bonwell and
Eison 1991: 2). More importantly, to be actively involved, students must engage in
higher-order thinking tasks as analysis, synthesis and evaluation. Within this con-
text, it is proposed that strategies promoting active learning be defined as instruc-
tional activities involving students in doing things and thinking about what they are
doing (Bonwell and Eison 1991: iii). Though the term “active learning” has never
been precisely defined in educational literature, some general characteristics are
commonly associated with the use of strategies promoting active learning in the
classroom (Bonwell and Eison 1991: 2):
• Students are involved in more than listening.
• Less emphasis is placed on transmitting information and more on developing
students’ skills.
• Students are involved in higher-order thinking (analysis, synthesis, evaluation).
• Students are engaged in activities (e.g. reading, discussing, writing).
• Greater emphasis is placed on students’ exploration of their own attitudes and
values.
It is clear that learning can be empowering. Good students know this. They are
used to success and praise for their accomplishments. However, there are a few
students in every classroom who tend to learn differently than their most successful
classmates. Their idiosyncratic ways of approaching schoolwork tend to result in
continual evaluations that they are behind or at least that their work is not acceptable
(Morton 1999). It is assumed that in order to help these students make progress and
be engaged in learning, it is important to tap their interests sometime during the
instructional day. If this is not possible, then the individual needs to at least realize
that, along with the ideas of their classmates, their ideas are valuable and are vali-
dated by the teacher (Morton 1999: 8). The belief that the relationship between the
teacher and the student has a large impact on students is another major assumption
of Morton’s study. It is also assumed that the teacher needs to believe that each
Y.F. Chan et al.

3. 521
student can learn. The tendency is to compare each student against the most suc-
cessful student in the classroom, and this tendency results in treating others as defi-
cient. A more empowering way is to appreciate the strengths in all students and to
help them appreciate their hard-won achievements.
Based on a phenomenological study conducted by Morton (1997) with six high
school students to determine what they thought teachers did that kept them inter-
ested and engaged. Students freely told of what they did not like: repetitive, boring,
meaningless worksheets and other routine assignments, lack of teacher enthusiasm
about the subject, favouritism towards the few “preps” and “jocks” in the classroom
and social cliques whose dominance and exclusivity made it uncomfortable for
other students to be in the school (Morton 1999: 3–4). They did reminisce about
being enthusiastic and interested, but these joyful memories often were of their
elementary school years. According to Morton (1997), her informants like hands-on
activities, group work in which the teacher set up the groups so that various social
groups were represented, interesting discussions and personal contact with and vali-
dation of their ideas and thoughts from the teacher. The students described teachers
who made school interesting and said that they felt that all teachers could do some-
thing to change the dull routines of school and improve school situations.
Morton (1999: 3) in another observation study with 34 fifth graders of an exem-
plary classroom where active learning was taking place identified that the classroom
was a place where all students were involved in meaningful curriculum, and learn-
ing was a realized goal for all. This case study revealed a dedicated teacher who
made a conscious effort to connect with individual students on a continuous basis,
used many alternative methods to help students learn content, required mutual
respect between herself and the students as well as among the students and dis-
played a sincere interest in the students’ learning and her own learning as well. The
research further confirmed that keeping students as willing participants in class-
room is more successful when there is a supportive connection between teacher and
students and when efforts are made to appeal to individual interests. Incorporating
students’interests and allowing choices are methods that serve to indicate a genuine
interest in students and so ultimately validate the students’ worth.
Repeated drill and concentration on teaching isolated skills in order to improve
scores on standardized tests may work for a few highly book-and-paper-oriented
students who come from language-rich backgrounds, but such practices tend to
result in many disengaged students. With the increasing changes in the demograph-
ics of the United States and the increasing number of children living in poverty,
diversity in classrooms requires diversity in instruction. Curriculum engagements
that invite all students to learning rather than sort them into levels of performance
on standardized tests are needed to increase the involvement and comfort levels in
classrooms (Morton 1999: 10). Another study by Bonwell and Eison (1991) has
also shown that students prefer strategies promoting active learning to traditional
lectures.
Other research studies evaluating students’ achievement have demonstrated that
many strategies promoting active learning are comparable to lectures in promoting
the mastery of content but superior to lectures in promoting the development of
Active Learning in Higher Education: A Case Study

4. 522
students’ skills in thinking and writing. Further, some cognitive research has shown
that a significant number of individuals have learning styles best served by peda-
gogical techniques other than lecturing. Therefore, a thoughtful and scholarly
approach to skilful teaching requires that teachers/lecturers become knowledgeable
about the many ways strategies promoting active learning have been successfully
used across the disciplines. In other words, each teacher/lecturer should engage in
self-reflection, exploring his or her personal willingness to experiment with alterna-
tive approaches to instruction (Bonwell and Eison 1991: iii–iv).
2 Methodology
This study applies the qualitative research approach. In this study, the researcher
used open-ended questions in the questionnaire, interview questions and document
analysis to collect data. The sample population comprised 181 undergraduate and
postgraduate students and 22 instructors from the School of Education.
Questionnaires using a 6-point Likert scale were administered to all 203 respon-
dents, whilst interviews were conducted with five undergraduates, five postgradu-
ates and five instructors to shed some light on teaching, learning and assessment
practices in higher education. The main purpose of this paper is to identify the
active learning practices in the higher education in the United States. Besides that,
two courses were chosen for observation purpose to gain a deeper understanding of
the teaching, learning and assessment practices in the authentic context. Besides
that, relevant documents such as syllabus, assignment guidelines, sample assign-
ments and lecture notes were also scrutinized to get a better picture of the courses
studied that have triggered active learning in higher education.
3 Findings and Discussion
The answers provided by the respondents in the open-ended section in the question-
naires indicated that active learning was not a magic solution in higher education
(Table 1). A total of 52 out of 181 student respondents (28.73 %) stated that active
Table 1 Active learning works better with some students
Active learning works better
with some students Frequency Percent
Active students 52 28.73
Some students 37 20.44
Most students 9 4.97
Weak students 7 3.86
No response 76 41.99
Total 181 100.00
Y.F. Chan et al.

5. 523
learning was only suitable for some students who were active, extrovert, outgoing,
outspoken, not shy, sociable, visual learners, capable, critical, divergent and self-
motivated, have good command of communication and prefer hands-on. The find-
ings also indicated that a substantial number of student respondents (20.44 %) stated
active learning was not only good for some students. In fact, only a small number of
student respondents (4.97 %) insisted that active learning was suitable for all stu-
dents. Interestingly, seven student respondents (3.86 %) highlighted that active
learning was actually only suitable for weak students and students who had prob-
lems to pay attention in the class. Two of the respondents (1.10 %) stated that active
learning was suitable for international students who had problem to participate in
the classroom activities and discussions. Hence, they needed an active learning
environment in order to engage them in the learning process. A total of 76 students
(41.99 %) did not provide any response in their questionnaires. This finding was
coherent with the study conducted by Chickering and Gamson (1987) who suggest
that students must do more than just listen; however, different students might have
different preferences. According to Auster and Wylie (2006), students of higher
education demand an active learning environment to provide high-impact experi-
ence which will be fully utilized in their future career.
Two of the instructors interviewed informed that the mode of learning varied
from one student to another. This indicates that instructors should apply multiple
strategies in their classroom. Interview with one instructor who was highly regarded
by his students told that he normally started his class by lecturing for about an hour.
Next, he would divide his students into smaller groups for discussion before they
come out for a presentation. Two of his students revealed that they had no problem
paying attention to his class because his class was well organized and very interest-
ing. His voice was loud and clear and attractive to all his students. In addition, he
was considerate and willing to help students to learn. Hence, his students were
strongly engaged in his class. They further added that their instructor was humorous
and talented. During his class, he would always sit in to ask questions to trigger
students’ thinking. Sometimes, during the presentation, he would participate in the
students’ role play activities and have a lot of fun of learning together with his stu-
dents. His students told that he also provided a lot of feedback to their assignments
and presentations. He normally ended his class by having one or two student presen-
tations and a short discussion relating to students’ assignments. His students were
very satisfied with his class. The active learning tactics adopted by this lecturer had
been highly advocated by Bonwell and Eison (1991) and Morton (1997, 1999).
Diamond et al. (2008) further stressed that active learning is implemented from
guided experiences whose content is determined by the students. This means that
the instructor acts as the facilitator to guide the learning of the students which has
been portrayed by this lecture.
A total of 38 students (20.99 %) pointed out in the questionnaires that small group
discussion was the best strategy to trigger active learning in the class (Table 2).
Interviews with three instructors confirmed this statement. All three instructors told
that they employ small group discussions in the class so that students can discuss in
a group and share their opinions with their peers. D’Andrea and Gosling (2005: 25)
Active Learning in Higher Education: A Case Study

6. 524
listed “active learning, deep learning, diversifying assessment, learner-managed
learning, peer review of teaching, personal development planning, problem-based
learning, student-centred learning, using learning technologies and work-related
learning” through assignments to enhance teaching and learning. Referring to
Pedersen (2010), active learning approaches are conducted with the purpose of
immersing the students into the learning environment using the methods of collabora-
tive learning in which the teaching and learning occurs through group interaction.
One of the instructors revealed that all students in her course were expected to be
active learners, which required each student to take an active role in their own learn-
ing and to share the learning process with the class. She urged her students to read
all assigned materials and make notes of questions, inconsistencies, areas of interest
and connections they found to other readings so that they could participate in the
classroom discussion actively. According to her, active participation in class discus-
sions allowed each student to test his or her own assumptions about student devel-
opment as well as expanded the world view of others in the class. This finding
supported Angelo’s (1995) urge to include inculcating higher-order thinking skills,
basic academic success skills, discipline-specific knowledge and skills, liberal arts
and academic values, work and career preparation as well as personal development
among students as in the Teaching Goals Inventory. According to Kieffer and
Lesaux (2010), active learning promotes the development of thinking skills. For
example, teaching the students cognitive learning instead of giving them the answers
will train the students to think independently on reasoning and solutions of problems
(Kieffer and Lesaux 2010).
Two postgraduate students stated in the interviews that they always see new
things in the small group discussions. They discovered that they could understand
things better because this kind of activity engaged them in thinking and becoming
Table 2 Best strategies for triggering active learning in higher education
Best strategies for triggering
active learning Frequency Percent
Small group discussions 38 20.99
Classroom activities 30 15.79
Hands-on activities 6 3.16
Questioning techniques 6 3.16
Small assignment 5 2.62
Classroom management 4 2.10
Debate 4 2.10
Group work 4 2.10
Reading materials 4 2.10
Presentation 3 1.57
Technology 2 1.05
Feedback 1 0.53
No response 83 43.68
Total 190 100.00
Y.F. Chan et al.

7. 525
more active in learning. Besides that, a substantial number of students (n=30) stated
that they enjoyed classes which employed classroom activities such as mini lectures,
prompts and intervals (Table 2). This result is in coherent to the study conducted by
Thibodeau (2008) which concluded that techniques such as prompts and intervals
are interactions in the classroom which can engage the students to learn actively,
thus proving the role as the lecturer to be active instead of passive. This finding was
further supported by two other instructors interviewed. Other strategies such as
hands-on activities and questioning techniques were raised by six students. Five
students mentioned small assignment as the best strategy. Four students indicated that
classroom management needed to be improved to trigger better active learning in the
class. Other strategies such as debate, group work, reading materials, presentation,
technology and feedback were also mentioned by very few students (n<5). There
were 83 students (43.68 %) who did not provide any response regarding the best
strategies for triggering active learning in higher education (Table 2).
4 Conclusion
The high level of agreement among students on active learning indicated that active
learning had been practised widely in higher education. The respondents further
suggested that active learning should only be taught to active students, is best con-
ducted through good discussion and is best used with strategies such as assigned
reading, project paper, case study and reflective writing. The identification of active
learning does have a positive impact on student learning. Hence, numerous research-
ers have described clearly the need for active learning in the classroom as follows:
Learning is not a spectator sport. Students do not learn much just by sitting in class listening
to teachers, memorizing pre-packaged assignments, and spitting out answers. They must
talk about what they are learning, write about it, relate it to past experience, apply it to their
daily lives. They must make what they learn part of themselves. (Chickering and Gamson
1987: 3)
When students are actively involved in … learning …, they learn more than when they are
passive recipients of instruction. (Cross 1987: 4)
Students learn by becoming involved … Student involvement refers to the amount of
physical and psychological energy that the student devotes to the academic experience.
(Astin 1985: 133–134)
Learning is an active and goal oriented process; Learning is meaningful and strategic;
Learning activities should be developmentally appropriate and have continuity, sequence
and integration. (Baker 2006: 52–54)
The above learning theories reflect some of the ideas of America’s leading
learning theorists such as Ralph Tyler (1902–1994) and John Dewey (1859–1952).
They and others have provided a sound foundation for today’s best practices for
teaching and learning and testing. The best practices flow from well-researched
theories. When applied in a judicious way and tailored by the teacher to the individual
Active Learning in Higher Education: A Case Study

8. 526
classroom needs, these theories help prepare students for the twenty-first century
(Baker 2006: 52–54). The aforementioned learning theories have become the frame-
work for many current best practices.
Acknowledgements This paper is part of a research project funded by Fundamental Research
Grant Scheme (FRGS), Ministry of Education, Research Management Institute, Universiti
Teknologi MARA and Malaysian-American Commission on Educational Exchange (MACEE).
References
Angelo, T. A. (1995). Teaching goals inventory. Presentation to improving student learning confer-
ence, Exeter, UK, September.
Astin, A. W. (1985). Achieving educational excellence. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Auster, E. R., & Wylie, K. K. (2006). Creating active learning in the classroom: A systematic
approach. Journal of Management Education, 30(2), 333–353.
Baker, L. M. (2006). Achievement testing in U.S. elementary and secondary school. New York:
Peter Lang.
Bonwell, C. C., & Eison, J. A. (1991). Active learning: Creating excitement in the classroom.
ASHE-ERIC higher education report no. 1. Washington, DC: The George Washington
University, School of Education and Human Development.
Chickering, A. W., & Gamson, Z. F. (1987). Seven principles for good practice. American
Association for Higher Education and Accreditation Bulletin, 39, 3–7. ED 282 491.6 pp.
MF-01; PC-01.
Cross, K. P. (1987). Teaching for learning. American Association for Higher Education and
Accreditation Bulletin, 39, 3–7. ED 283 446.6 pp MF-01; PC-01.
D’Andrea, V., & Gosling, D. (2005). Improving teaching and learning in higher education: A
whole institution approach. Berkshire: Open University Press.
Diamond, N., Koernig, S. K., & Iqbal, Z. (2008). Uniting active and deep learning to teach
problem-solving skills: Strategic tools and the learning spiral. Journal of Marketing Education,
30(2), 116–129.
Kieffer, M. J., & Lesaux, N. K. (2010). Morphing into adolescents: Active word learning for
English-language learners and their classmates in middle school. Journal of Adolescent &
Adult Literacy, 54(1), 47–56.
Morton, M. L. (1997). “Options, options, option”: High schoolers’ ideas of how teachers keep
students engaged in learning. Unpublished paper. USA: School of Education, Indiana
University.
Morton, M. L. (1999). Transforming classrooms through collaborative action research: Helping
teachers make learning connections with students. Unpublished doctorate thesis, School of
Education, Indiana University, USA.
Pedersen, D. E. (2010). Active and collaborative learning in an undergraduate sociological theory
course. Teaching Sociology, 38(3), 197–206.
Ryan, M. P., & Gretchen, G. M. (1989). Planning a college course: A guidebook for the graduate
teaching assistant. Ann Arbor: National Center for Research to Improve Postsecondary
Teaching and Learning.
Study Group on the Conditions of Excellence in American Higher Education. (1984). Involvement
in learning: Realizing the potential of American Higher Education. Washington, DC: National
Institute of Education/U.S. Department of Education. ED 246 833. 127 pp. MF-01; PC-06.
Thibodeau, G. M. (2008). A content literacy collaborative study group: High school teachers take
charge of their professional learning. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 52(1), 54–64.
Y.F. Chan et al.