Many studies have highlighted the benefits of actively engaging students in a variety of practices and activities in class (e.g.,Brewer & Movahedazarhouligh, 2018; Lumpkin et al. 2015; Theobold et al., 2020). In general, incorporating diverse activities supports student engagement and learning, and can make a lesson more rewarding to teach. Active learning was even mentioned as a core principle in the recently published study “What our best college instructors do”. But with so many active learning strategies available, it can be difficult to decide which one is most appropriate for a given learning environment, situation, and target learning outcome. Not to mention that exploring new practices can sometimes seem daunting.
That’s why the CTL is excited to share a new tool, called the “Active Learning Library”, which aims to help instructors incorporate diverse learning activities into their teaching and take the guesswork out of finding the right ones for their classes. The Library allows an instructor to search for active learning strategies by applying filters including, but not limited to, required prep time, class size, and modality. This allows for an individualized experience identifying activities that may work best for your specific teaching context. Check it out!