1. Learning and Teaching CPD from Bite Sized Training
Getting started with Active Learning Encourage your students to work harder than you
SLIDE 1: WELCOME
Getting g started with Active Learning– is one in a series of Learning and Teaching Bite Sized training resources designed to develop the learning and teaching skills of teachers, support staff and school leaders in schools, colleges and academies.
Other training in the Learning and Teaching series include:
Effective Marking and Feedback
Ditch differentiation and embrace Mastery
Leading outstanding learning and teaching
Supporting the learning and progress of your most able students
Boys’ Learning
In order to facilitate today’s training, you will need:
Copies of the PowerPoint slides printed three to a page with space for notes for each participant
Copies of the accompanying ‘Active Learning’ handout for each participant
Flip chart paper and marker pens
All resources for this training are available to download from the SecEd website (add link) or by from
Learning and Teaching CPD from Bite Sized Training
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2. What is active learning?
Active learning is a process that has student learning at its centre.
Active learning focuses on how students learn, not just on what they learn.
Students are encouraged to ‘think hard’, rather than passively receive information from the teacher.
What is active learning?
Active learning is a process that has student learning at its centre. Active learning focuses on how students learn, not just on what they learn. Students are encouraged to ‘think hard’, rather than passively receive information from the teacher. With active learning, students play an important part in their own learning process. They build knowledge and understanding in response to opportunities provided by their teacher.
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3. What is the theory behind active learning?
Active learning is based on a theory called constructivism.
Constructivism emphasises the fact that learners construct or build thei r own understanding.
This means that learners are more able to analyse, evaluate and synthesise ideas.
What is the theory behind active learning?
Active learning is based on a theory called constructivism. Constructivism emphasises the fact that learners construct or build their own understanding. Learners develop their existing knowledge and understanding in order to achieve deeper levels of understanding. This means that learners are more able to analyse, evaluate and synthesise ideas (thus achieving the higher order skills of Bloom’s Taxonomy).
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4. Three benefits of active learning?
helps students to become 'lifelong learners’
encourages success
is engaging and intellectually exciting
Three benefits of active learning?
Active learning helps students to become 'lifelong learners' In an active learning approach, learning is not only about the content, but is also about the process. Active learning gives students greater involvement and control over their learning.
Active learning encourages success Encouraging active learning helps students to make better progress, based on their enhanced skills and understanding. Analytical skills also help students to be better at problem solving and applying their knowledge.
Active learning is engaging and intellectually exciting An active learning approach encourages all students to stay focused on their learning, which will often give them greater enthusiasm for their learning.
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5. Six misconceptions about active learning
is all about doing a particular activity’
is the same as enquiry-based learning’
means taking away the teacher’s influence’
means a complete change of teaching style and classroom layout’
'will cause bad behaviour’
Requires students to be physically active.
Six misconceptions about active learning
Six misconceptions about active learning
'Active learning is all about doing a particular activity' Active learning is about encouraging students to engage actively with their learning. The learning objective is more important than the task itself. All activities must be relevant to what you want the students to learn.
'Active learning is the same as enquiry-based learning' Enquiry-based learning is also known as problem-based learning. In enquiry-based learning, the student learns by exploring a series of questions. Enquiry-based learning can be an excellent technique for encouraging active learning. As with all teaching, the focus needs to be on the learning not the task.
'Active learning means taking away the teacher’s influence' Active learning does not mean reducing the role of the teacher. The teacher is still the leader of their students’ learning. Skilful planning is very important.
'Active learning means a complete change of teaching style and classroom layout' Active learning does not have to mean a complete change to classroom practice. Occasionally, you might need to design a completely new activity or major classroom change. However, the changes required will often only be small ones. You might even realise that you are already promoting active learning, but you did not recognise it.
'Active learning will cause bad behaviour' If students are actively engaged in a group discussion, the classroom will be noisier than if you are the only one talking. However, as with any activity, you will still be in charge of the class. You will need to decide what levels of noise you are happy with.
'Students have to be physically active' Active learning is about making the brain active, not the person. Active learning does not mean that students have to move around the room. While students can move around the classroom if appropriate, they can also remain seated at their desks.
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6. An active learning checklist
What do the students in my class need to learn?  How will the task that I have chosen help my students to learn? 
How am I using questioning?  How far am I creating a positive classroom environment where it’s fine to take learning risks? 
If I need to focus on content, can I encourage the development of a skill at the same time? 
How will I present the task to the students?  How will I know that every child in my class has learned and made progress? 
"...put the student and the learning at the centre of your planning”.
An active learning checklist
In order to develop an active learning approach to your students’ learning, it will help to ask yourself the following questions:
What do the students in my class need to learn?  How will the task that I have chosen help my students to learn? 
How am I using questioning?  How far am I creating a positive classroom environment where it’s fine to take learning risks? 
If I need to focus on content, can I encourage the development of a skill at the same time? 
How will I present the task to the students?  How will I know that every child in my class has learned and made progress? 
The most important thing is to put the student and the learning at the centre of your planning. Consider carefully what you want your students to learn or understand and then shape the task to activate this learning.
"...put the student and the learning at the centre of your planning.
All active learning tasks tend to focus on encouraging the students to 'think hard' for themselves, rather than being passive recipients of knowledge.
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7. Nine active learning techniques
Guess the Lesson Objective 
Provocation
Visible Thinking 
Think - Puzzle - Explore
See – Think – Wonder
Questioning
Class debate
Quiz creation
Modelling 
Exit activity 
The ‘Flipped Classroom’ 
Nine active learning techniques
Guess the Lesson Objective 
Tell your students that you are not going to tell them the lesson objectives or key questions at the start. Instead you are going to ask them at the end what they think the objectives or key questions were. This will ensure the students listen very carefully and think about the ‘big picture’. It will also help you to be really focused on the learning outcomes for the lesson. 
Provocation
A ‘provocation’ is an activity that provokes or encourages student thinking:
Ask the students to think of the questions they want to ask about a particular topic.
Use a relevant image to provoke thought and discussion.
Model a learning activity (or show a video of it). Instead of explaining it, ask the student open-ended questions about it.
Visible Thinking 
Visible thinking is an approach designed to make the learning process clearer. In other words, students get to know the processes which go into deeper thinking:
Think - Puzzle - Explore. This is a ‘thinking routine’, which links students’ existing knowledge to their future independent enquiry. Students answer the questions:
What do you think you know about the topic?
What questions (puzzles) do you have?
How can you explore this topic?  
See – Think – Wonder. This is another thinking routine. It is designed to work with images, but could also work with lots of other things, such as watching a video clip, or carrying out an experiment. Students answer the questions:
What do you see?
What do you think about that?
What does it make you wonder?    
Questioning
Give students time to think of an answer before asking for responses. This might just mean insisting on a waiting time of 3 seconds or it might be that you give students 5 minutes to think about an answer before you ask them for their response.
Consider choosing students to answer, rather than asking for a show of hands. That way all students know they might be asked to contribute.
Use open-ended questions where possible. This allows students to think more deeply.
Push the students to develop their points by asking follow-up questions. Good questions include, “Go on...", “why do you think that?”, “could you say more?”.
Get students to write their own open-ended questions for the class to discuss, or exam-style questions for the class to answer. You could then choose the best ones to be answered in the next part of the lesson or for homework. 
Class debate 
Students work in groups to prepare statements either for or against a key statement – For example: ‘Global warming is a fictional idea created by politicians to further their own agenda’. Students feed their statements back to the class.
Groups then have time to think about questions they want to ask other groups. These questions can be used as the basis for a debate across the opposing groups.
Quiz creation
Get your students to design quizzes to share amongst the class. This could be done on paper, or you could use a free online tool such as Quizlet or Hot Potatoes.
Modelling 
Model what ‘good’ looks like for your learners to reinforce the learning points. Help students to ask their own questions, and design their own ‘good’ models to answer these.
Exit activity 
Ask students to do something on exit from the classroom which keeps them thinking right to the end, such as:
Students write one thing they have learned and one question they want to discuss on a ‘post-it’ note, and stick them to the wall as they leave.
Teachers ask an ‘exit question’ or give an ‘exit fact’. The question or fact should be as thought-provoking as possible.
The ‘Flipped Classroom’ 
Traditionally, classes have often focussed on helping students to acquire knowledge, with homework time being used for the development and application of this knowledge. In a flipped classroom, the opposite happens. Students get to know a topic before the lesson, and then the lesson is used for activities which develop their thinking and understanding. 
Examples of activities in preparation for the lesson include:
Note-taking from a textbook
Reading an article on the topic
Listening to a podcast or watching a video.
Doing some research the class. 
Examples of lesson activities include:
Discussion or seminar based on the homework
A problem-solving task
An essay-planning activity
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8. Conclusion Active learning
Learning which engages students and challenges their thinking, using a variety of activities
Conclusion Active learning - Learning which engages students and challenges their thinking, using a variety of activities
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9. Where next? SLIDE 10: MORE INFORMATION
Getting g started with Active Learning– is one in a series of Learning and Teaching Bite Sized training resources designed to develop the learning and teaching skills of teachers, support staff and school leaders in schools, colleges and academies.
Other training in the Learning and Teaching series include:
Effective Marking and Feedback
Ditch differentiation and embrace Mastery
Leading outstanding learning and teaching
Supporting the learning and progress of your most able students
Boys’ Learning
to download from the SecEd website (add link) or by from
Bite Sized Training offers a wide range of school based CPD sessions designed to be used as sharply focused yet active training sessions of no more than 45 minutes in length. Bite Sized Training materials are produced by Steve Burnage through Steve is an experienced author, trainer and education consultant with over 25 years experience of working in UK schools.
For details of other CPD offered through Bite Sized Training, or call
SLIDE 10: MORE INFORMATION
Getting g started with Active Learning– is one in a series of Learning and Teaching Bite Sized training resources designed to develop the learning and teaching skills of teachers, support staff and school leaders in schools, colleges and academies.
Other training in the Learning and Teaching series include:
Effective Marking and Feedback
Ditch differentiation and embrace Mastery
Leading outstanding learning and teaching
Supporting the learning and progress of your most able students
Boys’ Learning
Bite Sized Training offers a wide range of school based CPD sessions designed to be used as sharply focused yet active training sessions of no more than 45 minutes in length. Bite Sized Training materials are produced by Steve Burnage through Steve is an experienced author, trainer and education consultant with over 25 years experience of working in UK schools.
For details of other CPD offered through Bite Sized Training, or call
Bite Sized Training - Brought to you by Call or