In a traditional classroom, the emphasis in the past has very often been on acquiring knowledge and arriving at “the answer.” In this traditional model of education, the teacher delivers information to the students, usually at the blackboard or through a textbook.

 

This “top down” model of education places the students as passive receivers of information, rather than active builders of understanding. As a result, students in a traditional class are asked questions that are closed rather than open-ended. Likewise, there are limited opportunities for students to speak, ask questions or offer their points of view.
 

In contrast, in a class founded on the principles of active learning, students will be engaged throughout the day in working with their classmates, creating, communicating, reflecting, problem solving and other activities that are open-ended, thought-provoking and collaborative.

 

Not only are the students more physically active—getting into small groups, working outside the classroom on occasion, drawing up plans and diagrams—but also more mentally active, since it is up to the students to process what they are learning and condense it in creative ways into something to be communicated. There is a far greater onus on the students to produce work that reflects personal understanding and relevance.