Hints and Tips for Active Learning

You are more likely to remember what you have been studying if you are an active listener and reader.

Active reading and listening includes evaluating your own work, discussing how you own experience is relevant to what you’re learning and making connections between things. All of these skills help help you process and reinforce information. And they’re all skills you can learn.

This section includes the active learning skills you can use to get more out of workshops, reading, and group work.

1) Active listening in workshops

Bringing your own knowledge and experiences to your studies can help you understand new ideas.

Start by thinking about the subject of the workshop. This will help you activate what you already know, and make it easier for you to make sense of the workshop.

Before the workshop

Being well-prepared will help you avoid feeling lost and overwhelmed.

To prepare, go to your Virtual Learning Environment.

  • Download the PowerPoint slides for the workshop.
  • Read through them carefully.
  • Look up any words you are unsure of. Make a note of them in your notebook so you can refer back to them during the lecture.

Read or watch any other required pre-lecture articles and material.

  • Write down a set of questions you want to have answered in the text and then answer them when reading it.
  • Use reading strategies like scanning the text. Look at the headings and visuals to get a quick idea of the content.
  • Read the introduction and conclusion for an overview of the text.

 

During the workshop

These active listening skills will help you get more out of your workshops.

  • Look at the objectives of the workshop. These are the most important things to remember. Write them down.
  • Use these objectives as the headings for your notes.
  • Think about your strategy for note-taking. Some people write notes in a list/chronological order. Others draw mind maps and concept maps, or use the Cornell method to condense and organise your notes.
  • Choose the kind of note taking that works best for you.

 

After the workshop

Sessions are recorded. That means you can review the recording and add any information you have missed to your notes.

Think about what you are going to do with information from the workshop.

  • Go through your notes to make sure it’s clear what you have written.
  • Colour coding the ideas, and putting them into groups, can help you remember the information better.
  • Write a summary of the key points. This will make it easier for you to review them.
  • Write down any questions you would want further information about in your next workshop
  • Do some research on your own to find out more about the topics rom the workshop.

Learn more

  • Reading
  • Criticality
  • Generating and Recording Ideas (includes note-taking)

 

2) Active listening in online groups

When you’re in an online group, active listening is especially important because there are no body language clues to help people understand each other.

Ways to show you are listening

  • Let people know you are listening by using brief verbal affirmations like ‘I see’, ‘right’.
  • Check you understand what’s been said by paraphrasing back the information by saying things like ‘what you are saying is…’, ‘do you mean…?’
  • Ask open questions to draw information out from your colleagues . For example: ‘could you tell me a little more about that?’, ‘why do you think that?’
  • Reply to questions and asking follow up questions to keep the conversation going. Use question words such as ‘why?’, ‘how?’

 

3) Active reading

When you’re reading, ask questions, make notes and summarise the information.

One method you can use is called SQ3R. That stands for Survey, Question, Read, Recite and Review.

(S) Survey

Quickly skim the article. Look for clues e.g. read the title and headings and look at graphs, tables etc. This will give you an overview of the structure and purpose.

(Q) Question

Write some questions that you would like the article to answer based on your overview and what you already know.
This gives your reading a purpose.

(R) Read

Read for meaning and to find the answers to the questions you wanted to have answered.

(R) Recite / Recall

Repeat the key information. Paraphrase it. Then test yourself to see how much remember.

(R) Review

Review your notes. Check you have all the critical information. This can guide you to do further reading.

Here are some other tips to make your reading active:

  • Underline or highlight key words and phrases. This makes it easier to find them when you go back to it later on.
  • If you have a paper copy, make notes in the margins as you read. You can also highlight and add comments in a pdf.
  • Remember to use your critical thinking. Do you agree with the information? Does it raise further questions?
  • Think about what you have learnt and how it fits in with what you already know. Ask yourself how you can use this new information.
  • Evaluate the text by asking questions of it. Who wrote it and who for? What’s the purpose of the text?

If you can, have a chat with someone about what you have learned. Discussing the topic and putting it in your words can help you to understand it better.

Learn more

  • Reading
  • Criticality (including critical reading)

 

4) Being an active participant in group work

Teams are groups of individuals working collectively toward common objectives. During your programme, you will probably need to work collaboratively and in a group. This might be part of your workshops or as part of an assessment.

It is important to be an active member of your group to help achieve the common goal to the best of your ability.

Successful teams depend on the behaviour of team members. Some people are extremely helpful, organized and make it easy to get the job done easy. Others may be more difficult to work with, or seem to disrupt the group process. For the team to perform at its best, each person needs to have clear responsibilities.

Theories around team roles, such as Belbin or Myers-Briggs type indicators, can be helpful when working in groups. They allow you to think about, and communicate, your skills and how you like to work.

Learn more

  • Team Work in breakout sessions including working in the team and the Belbin test
  • How to resolve conflict
  • Meeting templates.

 

Practice