Active Learning
What is Active Learning?
Active learning refers to learning that occurs through instructional strategies that engage students intellectually and physically as they pursue given classroom assignments. Active learning is the opposite of passive learning, in which one-way communication from teachers to students is the norm. Active learning involves substantive changes in the ways students and teachers work together, shifting the focus of classroom instruction from teaching to learning. In such classrooms, students are engaged in learning activities such as gathering data, defining issues, stating problems, generating and testing hypotheses, drawing conclusions, and reporting and defending their work.
How is Active Learning Important to Our PharmD Program?
The mission of the College of Pharmacy is to prepare students to become pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists who are leaders in any setting. Active learning methods have proven to be highly effective in cultivating the critical thinking and problem-solving skill that employers tell us are the most highly sought. The College achieves its mission by striving for excellence in education, and we see active learning as the next step on that ongoing effort.
Active Learning Resources
CRLT – Teaching Strategies for Active and Collaborative Learning
Professional Development Module on Active Learning
Journal of Research in Science Teaching
Education Resources Information Center
