Active Learning Models from the Analytical Sciences - American

Chapter 20

Final Thoughts Patricia Ann Mabrouk

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Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Northeastern University, 360 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115

Anticipating your enthusiasm for introducing active learning into your classroom and teaching laboratory, you will find below a short list of suggestions for how to get started as well as a brief bibliography of archival resources on teaching and learning. If you are considering active learning, a good place to begin is by visiting a class or laboratory section using active learning taught by a colleague. When you are ready to try your own active learning experiment, start small with one well considered active learning exercise. Don't try and change your whole course all at once. Plan your exercise and how you will assess the success of your experiment. Consider using the principles of Backward Design to guide you: 1. 2. 3.

Begin by identifying what you want your students to know/be able to do (outcomes); Next ask yourself what characteristics you want them to exhibit as a result of acquiring this knowledge or skill? (evidence); and Finally, identify the classroom and/or laboratory activities that will satisfactorily demonstrate that this knowledge or skill has been acquired (assessment).

Discuss your plans with others interested in active learning and teaching in your department, institution, or at nearby institutions. Carry out your exercise and then reflect on your work. Consider partnering with others in your department or in other departments at your institution who are experts in teaching and learning in order to design and implement meaningful experiences for your students. If your department currently doesn't use active learning methods and primarily uses lecturing as an instructional method (generally a passive technique), expect your students to be somewhat resistant to active learning as

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Mabrouk; Active Learning ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2007.

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they are likely unfamiliar with it and concerned with how it will impact their performance in your course. Prepare your students by explaining your objectives and the potential benefits to them. Listen carefully to what your students have to say. If you are considering using team work, don't try to reinvent the wheel. Use the protocols suggested by a local expert who regularly uses group work either in your department or in another department at your institution. See how things go (i.e., assess!) and then try another collaborative exercise and change it, if warranted, based on the feedback you collected. This way you will know that your students are learning and that they are satisfied with the instructional process.

Bibliography The sources below are good starting points for further study on the topics discussed in this volume:

General Resources on Learning and Active Learning Barkley, E.; Cross, K . P.; Major, C.H. Collaborative Learning Techniques: A Handbook for College Faculty; Jossey-Bass: San Francisco, 2004. Pienta, N. J.; Cooper, M . M.; Greenbowe, T. J. Chemists' Guide to Effective Teaching; Prentice Hall: New York, 2005. Grasha, A . Teaching with Style; Alliance Publishers: Pittsburgh, 1996. Johnson, D.; Johnson, R.; Smith, K . Active Learning: Cooperation in the College Classroom; Interaction Book Company: Edina, 1991. National Research Council How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School; National Academy Press: Washington, D.C., 2000.

Cooperative Learning Kagan, S. Cooperative Learning; Resources for Teachers, Inc.: San Juan Capistrano, 1992. Team-Based Learning. A Transformative Use of Small Groups; Michaelsen, L . K.; Knight, A . B.; Fink, L . D., Eds.; Praeger: Westport, 2002.


273 Adult Learning Theory Brookfield, S. D. Understanding and Facilitating Adult Learning; Jossey-Bass: San Francisco, 1986. Knowles, M . S.; Holton, E. F., I l l ; Swanson, R. A . The Adult Learner; 5 ed.; Butterworth-Heinemann: Woburn, 1998. The New Update on Adult Learning Theory; Merriam, S. B., Ed.; Jossey-Bass: San Francisco, 2001; Vol. 89.


Problem-based Learning Bringing Problem-Based Learning to Higher Education: Theory and Practice; Wilkerson, L . ; Gijselaers, W. H . , Eds.; Jossey-Bass: San Francisco, 1996; V o l . 68. The Power of Problem-Based Learning; Duch, B . J.; Groh, S. E.; Allen, D. E., Eds.; Stylus: Sterling, 2001.

Case Study Method Barnes, L . B.; Christensen, C. R.; Hansen, A . J. Teaching and the Case Method: Text, Cases, and Readings; third ed.; Harvard Business School Press: Boston, 1994.

Service Learning Service-Learning in Higher Education: Concepts and Practices; Jacoby, B., Ed.; Jossey-Bass, Inc.: San Francisco, 1996.

Assessment Angelo, T. A.; Cross, K . P. Classroom Assessment Techniques, A Handbook for College Teachers, 2 ed.; Jossey-Bass Publishers: San Francisco, 1993. Fink, L . D. Creating Significant Learning Experiences: A n Integrated Approach to Designing College Courses; Jossey-Bass: San Francisco, 2003. Tanner, D. E. Assessing Academic Achievement; Allyn and Bacon: Boston, 2001.


274 The National Institute for Science Education's (NISE) College Level One (CL-1) Team. The Field-Tested Learning Assessment Guide (FLAG). http://www.flaguide.org/ (accessed December 11, 2006). Walvoord, B . E. Assessment Clear and Simple; Jossey-Bass: San Francisco, 2004.


Digital Libraries Analytical Sciences Digital Library, http://www.asdlib.org/ (accessed December 11,2006). National Science Foundation. National Science Digital Library. http://nsdl.org/index.php (accessed December 11, 2006). Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching. http://www.merlot.org/merlot/index.htm (accessed December 11, 2006).

Peer-reviewed Journals Focused on Science Education Research Journal of Chemical Education The Chemical Educator Journal of College Science Teaching Science Education


Active Learning Models from the Analytical Sciences - American

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