Are you active or passive in your learning?

Every person learns in different ways, what works for one person may not work for another. Studies have shown that if a person is interested in the topic, they are learning about they are more likely to remember the information later on. On the flip side, if the person is not interested and the learning is not engaging, they are more likely to forget the information or zone out completely and not retain anything. This is where active learning or teaching comes into play. For more information on how a person learns follow this link Learning. 

What is active learning?

In my opinion the best way to describe what active learning is, is to say what it is not first. Some great examples would be having students use their technology to watch a video about a certain topic or give a lecture and require the students to write the notes down in order for them to have the information. Basically, it is a one-dimensional way of learning that may or may not work for everyone and does not account for everyone learns differently. The image below lists many examples of what active learning is. 

                                

Photo credit: Professor Zumpano

I always thought active learning was a variety of ways people can learn a topic, even if it is not a topic, they are necessarily interested in.  My example would be a case study which is using real life situations, having the group use their current knowledge to come up with a solution to the dilemma. Case studies can go a few different ways. The one I am most familiar with and will explain below, is a class was given an assignment: needing to create or reimagine a mode of transportation that could help someone in the community. 

My experience with case studies

The real-life case study that I am familiar with would be three seniors at the local high school, through their Project Lead the Way Engineering class, redesigned a motorized car for my son, who has mobility struggles. My son's school physical therapist reached out to me back in January about the project the students were doing at the high school, and she thought my son would be the perfect candidate for it. All we had to do was say yes to him being a part of it and go once or twice to test out the car, they already had his measurements on file. The car started out as a standard motorized one that could be purchased at Target or Walmart. What they did to enhance the car was instead of having the car be controlled by foot pedals and a steering wheel, they instead had everything controlled with hand buttons. On the top of the car where the steering wheel would be there are 4 large buttons, each one with a directional arrow, large enough for my son to use. They also created a remote control that overrides what my son does should an adult need to intervene. The idea of this is to have my son be able to use this in the fall at school to help him get around more and giving him more independence.  

In my instance using a case study was very beneficial to all those involved. The students used their knowledge with technology to do something amazing for my son and my son gets the added benefit of being able to use it at school. Granted my son currently is not a fan of the motorized car, but I am hopeful with more use he will get used to it and start to enjoy it more.