Active Learning 1 .

The model below offers a way of conceptualizing the learning process in a way that may assist teachers in identifying meaningful forms of active learning.

I will refer to a model example done some western experts to show the role played by the active learning to change learning from being passive into active one.

This model suggests that all learning activities involve some kind of experience or some kind of dialogue. The two main kinds of dialogue are "Dialogue with Self" and "Dialogue with Others." The two main kinds of experience are "Observing" and "Doing."

Dialogue with Self:

 

This is what happens when a learner thinks reflectively about a topic, i.e., they ask themselves what they think or should think, what they feel about the topic, etc.The learner must explore the information by himself asking himself a lot of questions: HOW this happens, why" where and when? Then he resorts to resources of knowledge in the school library , the internet and find the means that help him to reach the objective by himself as an independent learner as if he were a researcher.

 This is "thinking about my own thinking," but it addresses a broader array of questions than just cognitive concerns. A teacher can ask students, on a small scale, to keep a journal for a course, or, on a larger scale, to develop a learning portfolio. In either case, students could write about what they are learning, how they are learning, what role this knowledge or learning plays in their own life, how this makes them feel, etc.

 

Self-talk:

There must be a kind of a dialogue between the learner and himself. He thinks, how he can apply this and how he can reach to that , where?

 How come ? it is a kind of self- talk.

This can and does come in many forms. In traditional teaching, when students read a textbook or listen to a lecture, they are "listening to" another person (teacher, book author). This can perhaps be viewed as "partial dialogue" but it is limited because there is no back-and-forth exchange. A much more dynamic and active form of dialogue occurs when a teacher creates an intense small group discussion on a topic. Sometimes teachers can also find creative ways to involve students in dialogue situations with people other than students (e.g., practitioners, experts), either in class or outside of class. Whoever the dialogue is with, it might be done live, in writing, or by email.

 

The student notices:

The learner listens to his teacher, notices everything, follows his instructions and tries to follow in his footsteps. Suppose it is a science lesson in the science lab, the teacher performs an experiment and the learner listens, watches , observes, waits to see the results then tries to do the same practically by himself.

This occurs whenever a learner watches or listens to someone else "Doing" something that is related to what they are learning about. This might be such things as observing one's teacher do something (e.g., "This is how I critique a novel."), listening to other professionals perform (e.g., musicians), or observing the phenomena being studied (natural, social, or cultural).

Observing:

The act of observing may be "direct" or "vicarious." A direct observation means the learner is observing the real action, directly; a vicarious observation is observing a simulation of the real action. For example, a direct observation of poverty might be for the learner to actually go to where low income people are living and working, and spend some time observing life there. A vicarious or indirect observation of the same topic might be to watch a movie involving poor people or to read stories written by or about them.

Applicability:

Nothing can be learned without the process of applicability. To do is to apply and to apply is to reach results and to reach results is to evaluate and learn. This is called the practical learning. Let's see what other experts say as a kind of quotation:

This refers to any learning activity where the learner actually does something: design a reservoir dam (engineering), conduct a high school band (music education), design and/or conduct an experiment (natural and social sciences), critique an argument or piece of writing (the humanities), investigate local historical resources(history), make an oral presentation (communication), etc.

Doing:

Again, "Doing" may be direct or vicarious. Case studies, role-playing and simulation activities offer ways of vicariously engaging students in the "Doing" process. To take one example mentioned above, if one is trying to learn how to conduct a high school band, direct "Doing" would be to actually go to a high school and direct the students there. A vicarious "Doing" for the same purpose would be to simulate this by having the student conduct a band composed of fellow college students who were acting like (i.e., role playing) high school students. Or, in business courses, doing case studies is, in essence, a simulation of the decision making process that many courses are aimed at teaching.

 

1. Division:  Divide your learners into groups. Leave the traditional learning that depends on recitation and give instructions of group work to practise collaborative work. The most traditional teaching consists of little more than having students read a text and listen to a lecture, a very limited and limiting form of Dialogue with Others. Consider using more dynamic forms of Dialogue with Others and the other three modes of learning.

1. For example:

    

   • Create small groups of students and have them make a decision or answer a focused question periodically,
   • Find ways for students to engage in authentic dialogue with people other than fellow classmates who know something about the subject (on the web, by email, or live),
   • Have students keep a journal or build a "learning portfolio" about their own thoughts, learning, feelings, etc.,

   • Helping students observe the subject or action they are trying to learn.

   • Give a chance to your learners to think and practise by themselves. 

   
   

2. Interaction:

   The previous steps enable learners to share, do and interact. Interaction plays a big role in the process of the real learning.  Learners can be interactive and thereby multiply the educational impact.

   For example, if students write their own thoughts on a paragraph or a composition, before they are asked to discuss it in group  the group discussion should be richer and more engaging. If they can do both of these and then observe the phenomena or action (Observation), the observation should be richer and again more engaging. Then, if this is followed by a kind of practice using real things of daily life, they will have a better sense of what they need to do and what they need to learn during doing. Finally if, after Doing, the learners process this experience by writing about it (Dialogue with Self) and/or discussing it with others (Dialogue with Others), this will add further insight. Such a method will give the teacher and the learner the opportunity of interaction as a method of teaching.

1. Experience and self talk:

1. New experiences (whether of Doing or Observing) have the potential to give learners a new knowledge on what is true (beliefs) and what is good (values) in the world. Dialogue (whether with Self or with Others) help learners know the many meanings of experience and the insights that come from them. The teacher can observe the learners activities and reach to the fact that his learners came to a real learning through watching that in the learners activities inside the class or outside it.                  

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