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=Learning activities are designed to encourage analysis and skill development. =

Evidence
The nub of the idea of engaging ‘active learning’, which features in the CanREGS (Barker, 2002) and Chickering and Gamson’s (1987) Seven Principles, concerns learning with and through experiencing. This notion can be traced back to Chickering’s (1976) contributions to experiential learning, which he defined as ‘learning that occurs when changes in judgments, feelings, knowledge, or skills result for a particular person from living through an event or events’ (p. 63).

Analysis and reflection should be encouraged and practised rather than recall and information retrieval. Teaching staff should be supported in developing the skills needed to facilitate e-learning approaches that build engagement through active learning pedagogies rather than replicating passive, traditional learning environments.

An often cited summary characterising active learning (Bonwell and Eison, 1991) proposes that ‘strategies promoting active learning be defined as instructional activities involving students doing things and thinking about what they are doing’ (¶ 2). Bonwell and Eison comment that although research studies demonstrate that active learning is comparable to lectures in promoting content mastery, it develops superior thinking/ writing skills. Adding that ‘some cognitive research has shown that…individuals have learning styles best served by pedagogical techniques other than lecturing. Therefore, a thoughtful and scholarly approach to skilful teaching requires that faculty become knowledgeable about the many strategies promoting active learning have been successfully used across the disciplines’.

Kember & Leung (2005) describe a model in which the type of teaching and teacher-student relationships impacted strongly upon the development of graduate capabilities. The greatest effect was found to be from approaches requiring active student involvement and aiming for understanding. The authors suggest that a strong effect on the development of graduate capabilities may come through employing active learning approaches.

Resources
Griffiths (2005) describes how teaching processes where lecturers provide notes, perhaps via PowerPoint, or with handouts, and how this fails to engage students. Such technology use is no different than blackboards or dictation. Students write down what is said and they repeat it in assessments. Students become bored and passive. They need to be motivated. Griffiths then describes ways to more effectively use technology in teaching. He describes a software course at H. Lavity Stoutt Community College where ICT is employed to actively engage students. The fundamental task in getting students to learn is getting them to engage in tasks that are likely to result in them achieving learning outcomes.

Evidence of capability in this practice is seen through course and programme designs that provide students with authentic and personally relevant contexts for their learning. E-learning technologies and pedagogies should be flexibly designed so as to allow incorporation of student experience and knowledge.