Let's Get Students in the Middle of the Action in Our Learning Environments

Module 5 was about active learning and student-centered learning environments.  Research study findings support that these methods of teaching may lead to better problem-solving and critical thinking skills and increased persistence compared with teacher-centered learning environments.  Students are more engaged (Davis, 2013) if they have invested more in their own learning (Maag & Fonteyn, 2005).

All the articles except Popkess and McDaniel talked about the use of discussion groups, either online or in a live classroom setting.  The authors pointed to positive effects on collaboration, teamwork, and critical thinking, as well as transfer of knowledge to the clinical setting.  Discussions focused on case studies, in which students had to work with each other to either create or solve the scenarios. Exposure to others' perspectives stimulated new ideas and working with one another established a sense of community. This can be accomplished online, as well, through the use of caring groups like we have at UWG.  These methods are also compatible with the "flipped classroom" approach in live classrooms.


I found lots of pictures of active classrooms with special furniture such as round tables or group tables with multiple computers and access to a group video screen that the computers connect to.  Other classrooms use desk/chair combinations on wheels that can be moved around the classroom.  While all these ideas sound great, they are expensive!  I don't see why we couldn't move our long desk-width tables into groups to facilitate collaborative learning. It may look something like this picture to the right, except with two long tables for each group.

In a flipped classroom, students arrive having already read the assigned readings and/or looked at the posted PowerPoint in hybrid classes.   Rather than a 2 hour lecture, class time could could consist of different sections.  The first 20 minutes or so could be a review of any questions students may have about the material and followed by a short lecture to review areas the class is struggling with. Then for the next 30 minutes, the students could begin to work on group projects, such as case studies, reverse case studies, or WebQuests.  I would give a 10 minute break after the first group activity.  In the second hour, students would do another group project for 30 minutes, with an extra 10 minutes to wrap up any loose ends of either project.  Longer projects could use both group activity slots.  During these group activities the instructor would walk around to the various groups giving feedback and answering questions.  The final 20 minutes could be used as a whole class discussion to review the material and how the groups applied it.

Finally, another common technique discussed was reflective writing, which facilitates application of concepts and synthesis of knowledge (Kuiper, 2012).  Students could write about how the group process and their own learning, promoting self-evaluation (Davis, 2013).  Of course, the reflective writing could be incorporated into student blogs as I did in my WebQuest. Questions should include how they would use the concepts they learned in different situations.  This type of reflective learning promotes metacognition and critical thinking skills, which are needed in the ever-changing, complex world of health care. Davis (2013) also suggested that faculty also engage in reflective writing so they can assist students better with the process and also benefit from self-reflection on their teaching methods.  Students will be more willing to attempt blogging if it is being modeled by their instructors.