Information Technology Services

A Monthly Newsletter About Learning Innovation

Dear LMU Faculty,

When you consider using active learning methods in your teaching, you may picture students getting out of their seats, walking around the classroom, or roleplaying with peers. Some research shows that, in addition to physical movement, the broader aim of this type of learning can support Ignatian Pedagogy and non-didactic approaches to educating the whole person.

In this edition of our newsletter, the Instructional Technology team focuses on active learning and the possibilities this teaching strategy can provide at LMU, such as:

Learning activities designed to engage socially
Classrooms designed to adapt situationally
Asynchronous exercises designed to stimulate mentally

Whether or not active learning is new to you, the resources below are scalable approaches you can use to capture attention while putting Ignatian values such as reflection, personal experience, and curiosity into action.

Relevant Research
Studies in education and psychology reveal the challenge of defining active learning. However, according to Peter Doolittle, Krista Wodjak, and Amanda Walters in Teaching & Learning Inquiry, active learning is a student-centered and interdisciplinary approach to the construction of knowledge (pg. 1). It focuses on strategies for fostering higher-order thinking, explores how meaning can be constructed through social activities, and ways that interaction can promote the common good.

There are also clear connections between active learning and Ignatian pedagogical paradigms and value systems, such as direct experience, interpretation of context, and discernment in service to justice and equality, as Simon Petrella et al reveal in the International Journal for Cross-Disciplinary Subjects in Education (pg. 4823).

ACTIVE LEARNING QUICK TIPS

Give students good reasons to close their laptops and forget about their phones. Low-tech or no-tech activities for in-person meetings are accessible ways to get students involved in their own learning and development. The following approaches require full attention and higher-order thinking.

Activities to Try

The One-Minute Paper: How much can you explain in a brief amount of time? Set a timer and have students jot down what they know or what they question about a given subject. Let them know it's low stakes and ungraded, but a great chance to reflect on a subject while building writing and thinking skills. Introvert-friendly.

Role-Play: This activity promotes empathy and understanding while building improv skills. Set up a situation where students grapple with opposing views or unlikely encounters. By acting out scenarios, learners gain perspectives on topics and new ways to relate, while being in someone else's shoes. Extrovert-friendly.

Visit the Active Learning web page for more suggestions.

ACTIVE LEARNING SPACES

The classroom environment itself can play a tremendous role in the learning experience. A growing number of flexible classrooms with movable tables, mounted monitors, cameras, and mics, give instructors control over the learning experience and get students excited to participate.

Activity to Try

Think-Pair-Share – Create opportunities for students to pair up and share out with the help of mobile desks and chairs, which can enhance role play and move students from insight to action during class meetings.

Visit the Active Learning web page for details about LMU’s current spaces.

Watch this video to see how faculty members Elizabeth Drummond and Vanessa Díaz transformed their teaching with active learning spaces.

ACTIVE LEARNING ANYWHERE

Away from class time, you can assign activities that leverage the technology tools already at your disposal. The examples below show how Brightspace Discussions, Peerceptiv, and H5P can provide learners with opportunities for active learning.

Group Discussions
At SFTV, students use Brightspace Discussions to workshop screenplays in real-time. A facilitated discussion allows everyone to give and receive feedback to level up a script. Using the tool this way drives critical thinking, appreciation of the craft, and the communal experience of screenwriting that is core to the filmmaking process.

Peer Evaluation
Instruct your students to exchange working drafts of reports or essays, then have them come up with constructive critiques, using Peerceptiv. This tool, integrated with Brightspace, recreates one of the most essential of academic activities, peer review. Be sure to specify the goal of the review, such as effective presentation, compelling arguments, holes in logic, consistent voice, etc. Your Instructional Technologist can help you get started.

Interactive Critical Thinking
Encourage students to pause, think, and apply concepts as they learn. Using H5P, you can enhance existing digital content by making it interactive. Include knowledge checks, drag-and-drop matching activities, branching scenarios, and more to help students improve focus and retention while breaking complex material into manageable pieces. See this guide on H5P for Reflection and Deep Learning.

UPCOMING EVENT

Teaching with Technology Symposium is Friday, March 13

Join us for panels, talks and demos, all addressing the theme: "Teaching in the Age of AI - Promise, Peril, and Practice."

Organized by ITS in partnership with the Center for Faculty Development, this faculty-led event about innovation and pedagogy features 21 faculty presenters. The Symposium runs this Friday, March 13 from 8:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. in Hannon Library. Register now.