Active Learning Challenges Research Articles

Practices of active learning in public universities in Ethiopia: student and faculty perceptions

ABSTRACT As it encourages students to solve problems on their own and guides them throughout the process, the importance of active learning has gained popularity in a growing body of scholarly literature. However, there is a paucity of research on the practice and challenges of active learning in public universities in Ethiopia. This study seeks to examine the attitudes of faculty members and students toward the practices of active learning. Data for the study were collected from randomly selected 1597 participants (404 faculty members and 1193 undergraduate students) in eight public universities. The findings revealed that most of the respondents perceived active learning positively. However, the practice of active learning was found to be low where lecture was the most frequently reported method of instruction. Faculty participants have identified factors that hinder their use of active learning methods. The study has practical implications and contributes to the literature on practices and challenges of active learning strategies in public universities.

Cross-cultural adaptation of educational design patterns at scale

PurposeEducational design patterns offer practical strategies that can be shared and adapted to address problems in teaching and learning. This article explores how educational design patterns for connected learning at scale at an Australian university may be adapted to a Vietnamese higher education context.Design/methodology/approach12 educational design patterns that address the challenges of active learning and large teaching team management are discussed. The authors then critically reflect on their cross-cultural adaptation for the higher education context, from an Australian to a Vietnamese university.FindingsTransitioning from passive to active learning strategies and effectively leading large teaching teams present similar challenges across our contexts. Educational design patterns, when dynamically adapted, may assist educators to teach skills that are critical for work and the future. Higher education institutions globally could enhance their practices by incorporating international best practice approaches to educational design.Practical implicationsThe Connected Learning at Scale (CLaS) educational design patterns explored in this article offer solution-oriented strategies that promote a more active learning experience. This paper identifies adaptations for educators, especially those in Vietnamese higher education that respect traditional structures, cultural nuances and resource limitations in implementation.Originality/valueWhilst educational design patterns are well-researched in the Western contexts, few studies analyse design patterns in an Asian, and in particular the Vietnamese context. More research is needed in the cross-cultural adaptation of educational design patterns that joins practice and theory.

Generalisable Dialogue-based Approach for Active Learning of Activities of Daily Living

While Human Activity Recognition systems may benefit from Active Learning by allowing users to self-annotate their Activities of Daily Living (ADLs), many proposed methods for collecting such annotations are for short-term data collection campaigns for specific datasets. We present a reusable dialogue-based approach to user interaction for active learning in activity recognition systems, which utilises semantic similarity measures and a dataset of natural language descriptions of common activities (which we make publicly available). Our approach involves system-initiated dialogue, including follow-up questions to reduce ambiguity in user responses where appropriate. We apply this approach to two active learning scenarios: (i) using an existing CASAS dataset, demonstrating long-term usage; and (ii) using an online activity recognition system, which tackles the issue of online segmentation and labelling. We demonstrate our work in context, in which a natural language interface provides knowledge that can help interpret other multi-modal sensor data. We provide results highlighting the potential of our dialogue- and semantic similarity-based approach. We evaluate our work: (i) quantitatively, as an efficient way to seek users’ input for active learning of ADLs; and (ii) qualitatively, through a user study in which users were asked to compare our approach and an established method. Results show the potential of our approach as a hands-free interface for annotation of sensor data as part of an active learning system. We provide insights into the challenges of active learning for activity recognition under real-world conditions and identify potential ways to address them.

Understanding and practice of active learning among upper primary school science and mathematics teachers

Active learning methods have established significance in the teaching-learning of science and mathematics. This study investigated the understanding, beliefs, self-efficacy, practices, and challenges of active learning among upper primary school (grades 7 and 8) science and mathematics teachers in Ethiopia. Data were collected from 155 teachers drawn from nine schools of Addis Ababa, Amhara, and the Southern Regional States using validated questionnaires and observation. Descriptive analysis was employed to make meaning of the collected data. The result showed that teachers lack to have an appropriate understanding of active learning. But they have shown fairly consistent positive belief and self-efficacy about the outcomes of active learning if they use them in their classes. Teachers believed that they implement active learning to a higher extent. The result further indicated that teachers differ in their understanding, practices, and efficacy of active learning across their gender and educational levels. High teaching load, large class size, lack of teachers' motivation, shorter instructional time, the subject they teach, absence of guidelines for active learning methods at school, and lack of appropriate knowledge and skill of active learning methods were the common challenges reported by teachers. The findings of this study imply that there is a need to enhance teachers’ understanding of active learning and to provide continuous support to them to use active learning even in challenging situations.

Literature review on the benefits and challenges of active learning on students’ achievement

Rapid changes in the education system in the 21st century require active learning among students to maintain the system’s relevance to the most recent trends and developments. Generally, the fact that active learning is not a new learning style has attracted scholars to conduct numerous relevant studies. Unfortunately, most past researches were not from the perspectives of the benefits and challenges. Hence, the present study reviewed a considerable number of past studies on active learning benefits and challenges. The objective of this study is to identify the benefits and challenges of active learning on student achievement. The Systematic Literature Review (SLR), which comprises a review protocol that includes the subject to be examined and the best approach for carrying out this research, was applied as a research methodology. The SLR technique comprises three phases: searching, screening, and analyzing. According to this investigation, there are six cognitive-related benefits, and the dominant benefit is increased academic performance. Hence, there are six challenges in student factors, however, time restriction is the highest challenge faced by students. Finally, several recommendations were presented at the end of this research for the reference of future scholars. Keywords- Active learning; benefits; challenges; time restrictions; academic performance

Students’ Attitude Toward Active Learning in Health Science Education: The Good, the Challenges, and the Educational Field Differences

Active learning is an important shift in pedagogical paradigms in recent decades. Previous studies establish many benefits from this learning strategy. However, an implementation is challenging. This study aimed to clarify an explanation of the benefits and challenges of active learning from various educational field students’ perspectives. This study was conducted in a general education course at Chulalongkorn University. Underpinning with a mixed-method study, 22 undergraduates were interviewed in a focus group study. Results were analyzed with deductive thematic analysis and contributed to 23 items in close-ended questionnaires for a cross-sectional quantitative survey study. Notably, 222 undergraduates revealed their attitude toward active learning including benefits and challenges. Quantitative data were analyzed with analytical statistics including the Mann-Whitney U test, and these results are supported by thick descriptions derived from the qualitative data. This study revealed students’ attitude in benefits of active learning dividing into cognitive domain, student efficacy, and 21st century skills, and also challenges of active learning in teachers, students, and pedagogical aspects. Health science undergraduates tended to agree that active learning exposure enhances effective active learning than non-health science undergraduates (U = 2843, p = 0.029). An educational theory is also discussed with these results, and an educational implication to achieve an effective learning strategy is presented in this study.

Challenges of Active Learning in a View of Integrated Engineering Education

The fourth industrial revolution has triggered a notable shift in engineering education, bringing the need to create new professionals. In this context, the active learning approach appears to be more important than ever. Nevertheless, to date quite lot of challenges related to active learning have been accumulated. Diversity of backgrounds and knowledge levels of students presented together in the same learning environment can become a source of dissatisfaction and failure for several groups of learners. To explore the reasons for these phenomena, the conduct of different categories of learners is examined and compared in terms of individual engagement and success in education. It is found that the student-centered approach is not necessarily the best method of teaching and learning when applied to students with great differentiation. A number of other conditions are required for success, namely, working in small groups, drawing on learner’s abilities, individual instruction methods, etc. These conditions are analyzed in detail in this study. The need for a rigorous and systematic orientation of learners in a multidimensional educational environment is proposed as a prospective form and an integral part of the university staff activity.

Challenges to Implement Active Learning in Amhara Region Police College, Amhara Regional State, Ethiopia

The main purpose of this study was to assess the current practices and challenges of active learning in Amhara Region Police College in teaching police science. To congregate the objective of the study, mixed research design was employed. Simple random sampling for cadets and census method for instructors’ was used to select cadets and instructors of Amhara Region Police College. Quantitative data were collected from cadets and instructors using structured and pretested questionnaire. The academic director and research department head were interviewed using interview guide. Data analysis was done in three phases. First, analysis of the quantitative data was done in SPSS Version 24 and percentages, means and a frequency, second, qualitative data was analyzed considering the research question, by using descriptive which is a deductive approach. Finally, quantitative and qualitative results were merged. The findings indicated that almost all instructors and cadets had awareness about active learning. Sometimes instructors are practicing active learning but the level of their practice was not satisfactory. Large class size, lack of administrative support, lack of materials or equipment needed to support active learning and cadets lack of interest on active learning methods were rated as the factors that have been negatively affecting the practice of active learning in Amhara Region Police College. Thus, it is critically important that instructors should be committed to discharge their roles to exercise active learning, the administration of the college and other stakeholders should design and implement a mechanism to monitor the practice of active learning, the concerned bodies of the college should design different mechanisms to avoid these problems by appropriately allocating the time, revising crowded materials and avoiding large and unnecessary contents to practice active learning in Amhara Region Police College. Keywords: Active learning, challenges, Amhara Region Police College, cadets DOI: 10.7176/JEP/12-1-02 Publication date: January 31 st 2021

PANEL & ROUNDTABLE: Active Learning Strategies that Transcend Physical Space: Lessons from Across Disciplines (90 mins)

COVID-19 continues to challenge how instructors think about their teaching, work with their students and how to achieve effective learning. This session addresses these challenges and provides a variety of methods to overcome them, focusing on flexible techniques for encouraging student engagement that can be used across modalities (i.e. on-line, hybrid and face-to-face) and can be deployed quickly and easily if necessary. Participants are encouraged to bring their past and present active learning challenges. Faculty members from several disciplines across Mason, all actively engaged in implementing active learning, will discuss their recent efforts to continue to engage students in the face of the spring pivot to on-line learning. The session concludes with a hands-on workshop to help participants envision how they can take their current assignments and reimagine them with active learning strategies, with an eye towards pivot-proofing their course as much as possible.

To what extent have Disability Resource Centers evolved to accommodate the challenges of active learning in large enrollment STEM courses?

While active learning teaching methods have been shown to improve student achievement in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), the increased interactions among students can also present unique challenges for students from underrepresented social identities. One proposed underrepresented group of individuals who may face challenges with active learning are students with disabilities who request academic accommodations from Disability Resource Centers (DRCs). DRCs are offices on university campuses that provide academic and social services for students with disabilities and other diagnosed medical conditions. Academic accommodations often include note‐taking services, preferential seating, extended time for exams, closed captioning of videos, and interpreters. However, as more and more classes are moving away from traditional lectures to adopting active learning methods, are we providing the right accommodations for students? Could we be disadvantaging students who normally would be receiving accommodations in traditional lectures? In this exploratory study, we identified commonly implemented active learning strategies and reviewed the literature on what reported disadvantages these activities may present for students. We then contacted directors of DRCs from 305 universities with large undergraduate student populations and large enrollment science courses based on the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. We interviewed directors to identify how familiar they are with the term of active learning and what accommodations, if any, they currently have for students in active learning science classrooms along with any challenges they have experienced when accommodating students with disabilities in active learning science courses. Our data suggest that directors are generally aware of “active learning” and have encountered it in their position when talking with students and faculty. However, few DRCs have policies or protocols in place to specifically address accommodations needed for active learning courses. Thus, accommodations for active learning are generally determined retroactively or on a “case‐by‐case basis”, which requires students to be the ones responsible for identifying aspects of active learning courses that they struggle with and report these challenges to the DRC in order to receive appropriate accommodations. With this study, we hope to provide a foundation for creating more inclusive active learning classrooms for students with disabilities.Support or Funding InformationNational Science Foundation

Active Learning Principles with Illustrations from Shakespeare Education

Active learning challenges students to learn through experience and reflection on what they have done (Frost, Levitt, and Kosslyn 2017). As this pedagogy has developed, the principles have been useful in teaching a variety of subjects. This paper discusses research from many disciplines and observations from sixteen years of working with secondary students in an active learning environment for Shakespeare education. Key observations from the active learning model include transferring responsibility to the student, encouraging student-led discussion, providing for experimentation, utilizing dual coding, reflecting real-life tasks, and coordinating space for learning. This research is shared with the hope that these foundational principles and illustrations can be applied more broadly across disciplines.

STUDENTS PERCEPTION ON ACTIVE LEARNING: PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS

The intention of educational authorities in different level is to implement active learning in Educational institutions including higher education institutions. Consequently, the need for this research was to examine the Practice and challenges of active learning: practical implications in Gambella University. The objective of researcher to undertake this research was to identify whether his on the right track in his teaching and to examine the practice and challenges of active learning practical implication. In order to achieve the objectives of the action research, the researcher has collected primary data directly from the class students to obtain tangible data from respondents. The researcher used questionnaire to collect quantitative data from 30 students which incorporates 50% of the class. The researcher was used both close-ended and open-ended questionnaire for this study. Since there is no previous research study conducted concerning the practices and challenges of active learning in the under consideration, the proportion of a target population was taken from 3rd year management department students. The finding depicts that most of students are not interested in active learning method, Students are in high satisfaction in their existing entrepreneurship learning, The respondents are very interesting in individual learning rather than group or cooperative learning, Most of students are interested in lecture method learning maximum number of students were agree that the existing lecture speed of presentation was fast, More than half of the respondents were agree that the existing way of teaching entrepreneurship was understandable. And Maximum number of students were agreed that the existing evaluation technique can measure students’ performance.

125 アクティブラーニング(AL)型教育の成果と今後の課題(OS 技術教育・工学教育(I))

125 アクティブラーニング(AL)型教育の成果と今後の課題(OS 技術教育・工学教育(I))

Meeting the challenges of active learning in Web‐based case studies for sustainable development

Teaching staff, designing conventional courses in higher education, must make decisions about selecting content and activities to engage students in learning. When the Internet is chosen as the principal delivery vehicle it presents particular challenges for the design of active learning. Further challenges are added when working with a complex, multidisciplinary subject, with no unique solutions for the learner. This paper examines strategies employed in designing case study material to encourage active learning in sustainable development. Significant elements for successful practice are identified in the application of key learning design principles to meet the challenge of Web design for active and constructive learning. Principles of variety, action, application, interaction, feedback, scaffolding and evaluation are offered as a framework and set of benchmarks for teaching staff and learning technologists designing and evaluating Web‐based learning initiatives.