Engaging Students in Active and

Inquiry Based Learning

LEARNING
THROUGH EXPERIENCE

“Tell me and I will forget. Show me, and I may

remember. Involve me, and I will understand.”
Confucius 450BC
Structure
I Active Learning
II Inquiry Based Learning
III Kolb's Experiential Learning Theory
IV Action Planning
Successful learning
Think of something you’re good at -
something you know you do well
Write down a few words explaining how
you became good at it
• practice
• doing it
• trial and error
• getting it wrong at first and learning
from your mistakes
Developing positive feelings
Think of something about yourself that you feel
good about - a personal quality or attribute,
something that ‘gives you a bit of a glow’
Write down a few words explaining why you feel
good about it. In other words, upon what
evidence do you base your positive feeling?

• reactions of other people

• feedback
• compliments
• seeing the results
Unsuccessful learning
Think of something that you don’t do
well - for example, an unsuccessful
learning experience

Write down a few words describing the

causes of this unsuccessful learning
experience - what went wrong?
Unsuccessful learning
• lack of opportunity to practise, or to learn
safely from mistakes
• ‘bad’ feedback - critical feedback given in
a hostile or negative way
• no motivation
• fear of failure
• couldn’t see why it was worth doing
• lack of time to make sense of it
• unable to understand it before moving on
Five factors underpinning quality
learning
Wanting - motivation
- interest

Needing - necessity
- saving face
- practice
Doing
- trial and error

Feedback - other people’s reactions

- seeing the results

Digesting - making sense of it

- gaining ownership
An active learning model of how
people learn

Wanting / Needing

Digesting Doing

Feedback After Race (2006)

Ripples on a pond….

Wanting/
Needing

Doing
Digesting
Feedback
After Race (2006)
Nature of Active Learning
Active learning is about learning by doing. It is especially
common in:
• Laboratory, practical and studio classes
• Discussions in-class and on-line
• Fieldwork
• Learning in and from work-based activities
• Problem-based and inquiry-based learning
• Independent learning
• Peer teaching
• Role-playing and simulations
May also be used in lectures
Nature of Active and Inquiry Based
Learning
• Active learning and inquiry based learning
involve an experiential learning student-
focused approach
• They may be contrasted with the transmission
mode of teaching in which students learn
largely passively
• There is considerable evidence that engaging
students in well-designed active and inquiry
based learning is a more effective way of
student learning than the transmission method
of teaching
Shifting Paradigms

Paradigm Approach
Teaching Telling students what they need to know
Learning Engaging students in learning how to learn;
emphasis on learning what they need to
know
Discovery Encouraging students to seek and discover
new knowledge
Source: Hodge et al. (2007, 3)
Defining Active Learning, Research
and Inquiry

It is not enough just to do, and neither is

it enough just to think. Nor is it enough
simply to do and think. Learning from
experience must involve linking the
doing and the thinking”
(Gibbs 1988, 9)
 STUDENTS ARE PARTICIPANTS

Research-tutored Research-based

Engaging in Undertaking
research research and
discussions inquiry EMPHASIS
EMPHASIS ON ON
RESEARCH RESEARCH
CONTENT Learning PROCESSES
Developing
about current research and AND
research in the PROBLEMS
inquiry skills and
discipline techniques
Research-led Research-oriented

STUDENTS FREQUENTLY ARE AN AUDIENCE

Engaging students in active learning, research and inquiry

(based on Healey, 2005, 70)
Mainstreaming student research and
inquiry through the disciplines
In pairs, each skim read at least ONE strategy
for engaging students with research in
various disciplines (1.1 - 1.4 pp 9-14)

Discuss whether and how any of the ideas

may be amended for application in your
course team or departmental contexts
10 minutes
Applying Race’s Factors Underlying
Learning to Case Studies
Look again at the case studies you
read and identify the extent to which
the five factors underpinning quality
learning according to Race (p3),
appear to be included in the
activity(ies) described.
 Modes of IBL

• Importance of scaffolding provided by lecturer and

development of independence in learner
• Structured – where lecturers provide an issue or problem
and an outline for addressing it
• Guided – where lecturers provide questions to stimulate
inquiry but students are self-directed in terms of exploring
these questions
• Open – where students formulate the questions
themselves as well as going through the full inquiry cycle
(after Staver and Bay, 1987)
 Pursuing Authoring

Identifying Producing

Information-oriented: Discovery-oriented:
products of research process of research

Conceptual model
Darker shading = strengthening of teaching-research links AND enhanced
learning outcomes
(Spronken-Smith and Walker, 2009; Spronken-Smith et al., 2009)
Scaffolding inquiry throughout a degree

3rd year 1st year 3rd year

2nd year
2nd year
1st year
Inquiry at Miami University
• Students in the redesigned courses reported
engaging in more inquiry-driven activities (e.g.,
“working on assignments that require you to build
understanding on your own”);
Inquiry at Miami University
Students in redesigned courses were more
likely to contribute to class discussions and
to work with other students during class
Inquiry at Miami University
Students in redesigned courses reported
less course emphasis on “memorizing facts,
ideas, or methods” and spent significantly
more time preparing for the courses
Learning Styles

“A key to getting (and keeping) students

actively involved in learning lies in
understanding learning style
preferences, which can positively or
negatively influence a student's
performance”
(Blackmore, 1996)
Learning Styles
“… the term ‘learning style’ is a potentially
misleading portmanteau term for a rag-bag of
disparate and even unrelated constructs”
Sadler Smith (1999, 160)

A consensus is emerging that learning style is:

“a distinctive and habitual way an individual
acquires knowledge, skills or attitudes and that,
in adults, it is a relatively stable trait”
Healey et al. (2005)
Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory

Kolb’s experiential learning theory is

recognised as launching the modern
learning style movement (Coffield et al.,
2004) and is by far the most cited author in
the learning style literature (Desmedt and
Valke, 2004).
Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory

Experiential learning is a well-known model

in education. Kolb's Experiential Learning
Theory (Kolb, 1984) defines
Experiential Learning as "the process
whereby knowledge is created through the
transformation of experience. Knowledge
results from the combination of grasping
and transforming experience."
Kolb (1984, 38)
 KOLB'S CYCLE OF EL
• The cycle begins with an experience that the student
has had, followed by an opportunity to reflect on that
experience. Then students may conceptualize and
draw conclusions about what they experienced and
observed, leading to future actions in which the
students experiment with different behaviors.
• This begins the cycle anew as students have new
experiences based on their experimentation
(Oxendine, Robinson and Willson, 2004) . Although
this continuum is presented as a cycle, the steps may
occur in nearly any order. This learning cycle involves
both concrete components (steps 1 and 4) and
conceptual components (steps 2 and 3), which
require a variety of cognitive and affective behaviors.
Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory
• Divergers - view situations from many
perspectives and rely heavily upon mind
storming and generation of ideas
• Assimilators - use inductive reasoning and
have the ability to create theoretical models
• Convergers - rely heavily on hypothetical-
deductive reasoning
• Accommodators - carry out plans and
experiments and adapt to immediate
circumstances
Examples of Disciplinary Groupings
(after Kolb 1984, 127)
CE

Accommodators Divergers
Law English
Education History
Architecture Library Science
AE RO

Convergers Assimilators
Ecology Chemistry
Engineering Geography
Business AC Mathematics
Learning Styles – Some Caveats
• There is much discussion in the literature about the
pros and cons of different inventories for
identifying learning styles
• Perhaps of more importance than the details of an
individual’s specific learning style is the
recognition by students and staff that people have
different preferred learning styles
• This recognition has implications for:
a) students learning individually and in groups
b) how teachers respond to the variety of styles
that they have in their student groups
 The Essential Components of Experience-
Based Learning
Andresen, Boud and Choen (2000) provide a list of criteria for
experience-based learning. The authors state that for a project to
be truly experiential, the following attributes are necessary in some
combination.
• The goal of experience-based learning involves something
personally significant or meaningful to the students.
• Students should be personally engaged.
• Reflective thought and opportunities for students to write or discuss
their experiences should be ongoing throughout the process.
• The whole person is involved, meaning not just their intellect but
also their senses, their feelings and their personalities.
• Students should be recognized for prior learning they bring into the
process.
• Teachers need to establish a sense of trust, respect, openness,
and concern for the well-being of the students.
 Why use experience-based projects?

• Experiential learning is a powerful

teaching tool. While classroom lectures
primarily address the cognitive domain,
experiential learning involves the whole
student: their cognitive, affective and
physical domains (Oxendine, Robinson
and Willson, 2004).
• The result is that students can relate to
the subject matter in a way that is
meaningful to their own lives.
 Why use experience-based projects?

• Projects like this have a lasting impact. In

a survey given to students 1-3 years after
the Lifestyle Project at Skidmore College,
81% of the students reported that they
had made permanent changes to their
lifestyles as a result of the project [Kirk
and Thomas, 2003]
Why use experience-based projects?

• Experience-based projects can help bring

the students and the teacher closer
together. Because they are sharing
aspects of their own actions and
decisions, there is a personal element to
this type of learning.
• This can be a valuable way for instructors
to get to know their students, and for
students to pull together as a team.
Conclusion
• Active learning, research and inquiry have an
important role to play in enhancing the quality of
student learning (but they involve more than just
‘doing’)
• Recognising that students have different
preferred learning styles needs to be built in to
the design of learning activities and assessment
• Kolb’s learning cycle provides a useful
framework for designing effective active learning
experiences
Conclusion
• Designing ways of engaging students in active
learning, research and inquiry so that their
learning is enhanced is challenging.

• Being creative and thinking outside the box can

help

“If you want to be loved get a dog”

(McKenna, 2011)
LEARNING THROUGH
LEARNING THROUGH
REFLECTION
REFLECTION
 LEARNING THROUGH
REFLECTION
• When students become reflective about
the teaching and learning process, they
are strengthening their own capacity to
learn.
• Central to this is the principal of
reflection as metacognition, where
students are aware of and can describe
their thinking in a way that allows them
to "close the gap" between what they
know and what they need to learn.
 LEARNING
LEARNINGTHROUGH
THROUGH
REFLECTION
REFLECTION
Reflective learners assimilate new
learning, relate it to what they already
know, adapt it for their own purposes,
and translate thought into action.
Over time, they develop their creativity,
their ability to think critically about
information and ideas, and their
metacognitive ability (that is, their ability
to think about their own thinking)
 What reflection means?
• Reflection is about students becoming
aware of their own thinking processes,
and being able to make those
transparent to others. It enables
assessment of the "why" and "how" of
the learning, and what needs to be done
as a result.
Reflection readily follows on from self or peer assessment.
When students and teachers routinely reflect they will be
able to easily describe:
• what is intended to be learnt
• where they have got to
• the learning process
• where they will go next
• the learning culture in the classroom.
• is the teacher's responsibility to support
students to improve their skills in reflection.
Teachers should model and teach reflective
processes to the students, plan lessons to
incorporate time for student reflection, and use
those same skills to reflect on and improve their
own practice.
 Learning Through Reflection
by Arthur L. Costa and Bena Kallick
• A defining condition of being human is that we have to
understand the meaning of our experience.
by Jack Mezirow
• Most of us go through life viewing our experiences as
isolated, unrelated events. We also view these
happenings simply as the experiences they are, not as
opportunities for learning.
• Psychologists refer to this type of lifeview as an "episodic
grasp of reality" (Feuerstein, Rand, Hoffman, & Miller,
1980), and it is not a habit we want to pass along to
children.
• Instead, we want students to get into the habit of linking
and constructing meaning from their experiences. Such
work requires reflection.
• Reflection has many facets. For example,
reflecting on work enhances its meaning.
• Reflecting on experiences encourages insight
and complex learning. We foster our own
growth when we control our learning, so
some reflection is best done alone.
• Reflection is also enhanced, however, when
we ponder our learning with others.
• Reflection involves linking a current experience to
previous learnings (a process called scaffolding).
• Reflection also involves drawing forth cognitive and
emotional information from several sources: visual,
auditory, kinesthetic, and tactile.
• To reflect, we must act upon and process the
information, synthesizing and evaluating the data. In
the end, reflecting also means applying what we've
learned to contexts beyond the original situations in
which we learned something.
 Valuing Reflection

• The art of teaching is the art of assisting

discovery.
—Mark Van Doren
 Valuing Reflection
• Teachers who promote reflective classrooms
ensure that students are fully engaged in the
process of making meaning.
• They organize instruction so that students are
the producers, not just the consumers, of
knowledge.
• To best guide children in the habits of
reflection, these teachers approach their role
as that of "facilitator of meaning making."
 Valuing Reflection
• In the role of facilitator, the teacher acts as an
intermediary between the learner and the
learning, guiding each student to approach
the learning activity in a strategic way.
• The teacher helps each student monitor
individual progress, construct meaning from
the content learned and from the process of
learning it, and apply the learnings to other
contexts and settings.
• Learning becomes a continual process of
engaging the mind that transforms the mind.
 Valuing Reflection
• Thus, when students are asked to reflect on an assignment,
they are caught in a dilemma: "What am I supposed to do?
How do I 'reflect'? I've already completed this assignment!
Why do I have to think about it anymore?"
• In response to our questions, students who are
inexperienced with reflection offer simple answers such as
"This was an easy assignment!" or "I really enjoyed doing this
assignment."
• If we want students to get in the habit of reflecting deeply on
their work—and if we want them to use Habits of Mind such
as applying past knowledge to new situations, thinking about
thinking (metacognition), and remaining open to continuous
learning—we must teach them strategies to derive rich
meaning from their experiences.
 Habits of Mind as one lens for
reflection.
• Listening with understanding and
empathy.
• Thinking flexibly
• Managing impulsivity
• Remaining open to continuous learning
 LEARNING THROUGH
REFLECTIVE PRACTICE
 LEARNING THROUGH
REFLECTIVE PRACTICE
• Reflective practice is the capacity to
reflect on action so as to engage in a
process of continuous learning. In its
simplest form it involves thinking about,
or reflecting on, what you do. It is
closely linked to the concept of learning
from experience.
 LEARNING THROUGH
REFLECTIVE PRACTICE
• The difference between casual ‘thinking’ and
‘reflective practice’ is that reflective practice
requires a conscious effort to think about
events, and develop insights into them.
• Reflective practice is a process by which you:
pause and think about your practice;
consciously analyse your decision making;
and draw on theory to relate it to what you did
(or didn’t do) in practice.
 LEARNING THROUGH
REFLECTIVE PRACTICE
• Reflective practice can be an important tool in
practice-based learning settings where
people – and agencies and communities –
learn from their own professional
experiences, rather than relying solely on
formal learning or knowledge transfer.
• Reflective practice is linked closely with
monitoring and evaluation (M&E), and is also
supported through approaches such as action
research and adaptive management.
 What is Reflective Practice?
• Reflective practice is, in its simplest form, thinking
about or reflecting on what you do. It is closely linked
to the concept of learning from experience, in that
you think about what you did, and what happened,
and decide from that what you would do differently
next time.
• Thinking about what has happened is part of being
human. However, the difference between casual
‘thinking’ and ‘reflective practice’ is that reflective
practice requires a conscious effort to think about
events, and develop insights into them. Once you get
into the habit of using reflective practice, you will
probably find it useful both at work and at home.
 What is Reflective Practice?
• Reflective practice is an active, dynamic action-based
and ethical set of skills, placed in real time and
dealing with real, complex and difficult situations.
• Academics also tend to agree that reflective practice
bridges the gap between the ‘high ground’ of theory
and the ‘swampy lowlands’ of practice. In other
words, it helps us to explore theories and to apply
them to our experiences in a more structured way.
These can either be formal theories from academic
research, or your own personal ideas. It also
encourages us to explore our own beliefs and
assumptions and to find solutions to problems.
Developing and Using Reflective PracticeNeil Thompson, in his
book People Skills, suggests that there are six steps for reflective
practice:
1. Read - around the topics you are learning about
or want to learn about and develop
2. Ask - others about the way they do things and
why
3. Watch - what is going on around you
4. Feel - pay attention to your emotions, what
prompts them, and how you deal with
negative ones
5. Talk - share your views and experiences with
others in your organisation
6. Think - learn to value time spent thinking about
your work
 To Conclude
• Reflective practice is a tool for
improving your learning both as a
student and in relation to your work and
life experiences. Although it will take
time to adopt the technique of reflective
practice, it will ultimately save you time
and energy.
The Reflective Learning Process
• Identify a situation you encountered in your
work or personal life that you believe could
have been dealt with more effectively.
Describe the experience
• What happened? When and where did the
situation occur? Any other thoughts you have
about the situation?
Reflection
• How did you behave? What thoughts did you
have? How did it make you feel? Were there
other factors that influenced the situation?
What have you learned from the
experience?Theorizing
How did the experience match with your
preconceived ideas, i.e. was the
outcome expected or unexpected?
How does it relate to any formal
theories that you know? What
behaviours do you think might have
changed the outcome?
Experimentation
• Is there anything you could do or say
now to change the outcome? What
action(s) can you take to change similar
reactions in the future? What
behaviours might you try out?