Copyright Office of Instructional Consulting, School of Education, Indiana University Bloomington Page 1 of 4

Active Learning Techniques

Leading question A question so framed as to guide the student questioned to respond
with a particular obvious answer. This answer is then explored in further depth which
may ultimately conclude with an answer that was not so explicit, or one that fosters
cognitive dissonance, moral challenging, or self-questioning on the part of the student.
Puzzle, enigma, contradiction Information presented to student that is accurate, but is
either incomplete, ambiguous, or paradoxical in nature.
Insight, epiphany The capacity to discern the inward or hidden nature of things or of
perceiving in an intuitive manner. A comprehension or perception of a topic by means of
a sudden intuitive realization.
Empathy Identification with and understanding of another's situation, feelings, and
motives. The attribution of one's own feelings to a situation or person in a story.
Connecting a topic Pointing out similarities between the topic to be studied and one
that is more contemporary, more familiar, or more interesting to your students.
Stereotype, conventional wisdom A conventional, formulaic, and oversimplified
conception, opinion, or image that often stands in for reality. These can be explored
further by examining them in more complexity, in different contexts, or analyzing the
rationales/origins for the stereotypes in the first place.
Challenges to knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes Devils advocate: to argue against a
cause or position not as a committed opponent but purely in order to provoke a discussion
or argument, or to determine the validity of the cause or position. Focused questioning:
Questioning designed to extract the underlying assumptions, situatedness, or logical
construction of a cause, position, or opinion.
Poll, pretest A poll is a survey conducted about a topic by asking questions that can be
answered by yes/no or agree/disagree. These generally give quick collective feedback
which can influence the ensuing instruction, although it is usually not detailed in nature
and does not assess individual student perceptions. A pretest is an examination given
before the instruction that tests what students will be expected to know after the
instruction. It enables instructors to know what kinds of initial knowledge and
misconceptions students have when they begin the module of instruction.
Brainstorming A method of collaborative problem solving in which all members of a
group spontaneously contribute ideas, or a similar process undertaken by an individual to
solve a problem by rapidly generating and recording a variety of possible solutions.

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Collaborative listing and ranking A group process by which members determine
determine the individual aspects or elements of a task or concept, and then prioritize them
or place them in a hierarchical order.
Mind mapping involves writing down a central idea and thinking up new and related
ideas which radiate out from the centre. By focusing on key ideas written down in your
own words, and then looking for branches out and connections between the ideas, you are
mapping knowledge in a manner which will help you understand and remember new
information.
Concept mapping is a technique for representing knowledge in graphs. Knowledge
graphs are networks of concepts. Networks consist of nodes and links. Nodes represent
concepts and links represent the relations between concepts. Concepts and sometimes
links are labeled. Links can be non-, uni- or bi-directional. Concepts and links may be
categorized, they can be simply associative, specified or divided in categories such as
causal or temporal relations. Concept mapping can be done to generate ideas, to design
a complex structure (long texts, hypermedia, large web sites, etc., to communicate
complex ideas, to aid learning by explicitly integrating new and old knowledge, or to
assess understanding or diagnose misunderstanding.
Visual webs are concept maps that may also contain images, different ways of visually
constructing relationships (such as Venn diagrams instead of points and lines), and
explanatory textual material.
Cognitive analogies Students are encouraged to imagine multiple ways in which an
idea, fact, explanation, procedure, etc. could be understood. How, for example, might a
painter represent Darwins ideas about kin selection? Or, how might the musicological
structure of a Beethoven violin sonata be realized with tinker toys? Or, how might
Oedipal conflicts serve to represent the confinement of negative electrical charge to
specific nuclear orbitals?
Instructor-created charts, matrices, flowcharts, models Visually-inspired
representations of concepts which enable students to approach the material in more
concrete ways. These generally not only include the concepts themselves, but also ways
in which they can be ranked, prioritized, compared, contrasted, and understood in
context.
Student-created charts, matrices, flowcharts, models Students are encouraged to
build charts, matrices, flowcharts, and models as contexts for extending their
understanding of key course-specific concepts. This sort of exercise encourages students
to ask: What would a good model look like? How should the model actually be
constructed? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the model? Computers provide
an excellent resource for this sort of work (SimCity is a nice example of a commercial
product that enables multi-level modeling of techno-socio-political problems, ideas,
issues, etc.).

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Case study, mini-case study An analysis of a particular case or situation, either real or
constructed, that is used as a basis for the application of knowledge and/or drawing
conclusions in similar situations. The analysis can be of a person or group, or even an
intensive study of a unit, such as a corporation or a corporate division. A case study can
be exemplary, cautionary, or instructive. Exemplary and cautionary case studies are
presented in total to serve as a model for success or failure, for example. Instructive case
studies can present problems that require identification through clues, symptoms, or
outcomes and consist of background information that can be ambiguous, incomplete, or
hidden.
Simulations, scenarios The reproduction of the essential features of an organization or
system as an aid to study or training. While the simulation represents the real process or
entity, it can never equal it in complexity or completeness. A scenario is a narrative
which recites the important elements of a situation or process within an organization or
system.
Role-playing The instructor provides either real or imaginary contexts along with a
range of relevant characters/roles; students are encouraged to research these contexts,
characters, and/or roles, and then to improvise dramatic interactions among their
characters during class periods.
Student debate A formal discussion in which an issue or topic is approached from two,
completely opposite points of view. These are generally held with strict protocols that
determine the procedure for presenting each argument, critique, and rebuttal, and that
designate stages for speaking and listening
Round table discussion A discussion which may follow any number of specific
protocols, but that is based on the agreement that each person has equal opportunity to
contribute and equal status in the discussion.
Problem-based learning A pedagogical strategy based on constructivist learning theory
that simultaneously develops both problem solving strategies and disciplinary knowledge
bases and skills by placing students in the active role of problem solvers. Students are
confronted with problems that are "ill-structured," that is, they do not have clear-cut,
absolute answers. These problems reflect the complexity of real-world situations. The
tasks are designed to be as authentic, in terms of emulating real-world tasks and
environments, and are designed to foster transfer of learning to real-world situations that
the learner may encounter in the future. In addition, they require learners to actively
explore information resources other than the teacher, including primary documents,
reference materials and community members, and to draw on knowledge from diverse
subject areas.



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Student field work with reflection Any number of organized or individual instructional
experiences that are held outside the classroom. Their design is meant to be as authentic
as possible or as the instructional topic permits. Students are usually asked to journal,
report, or otherwise produce documentation and/or their impression of the experience.
Collective problem solving Both conceptual and practical problems will sometimes
resist solution because problem-solvers are unable to frame their questions in original
ways; collective problem solving exercises encourage small groups of students to take a
problem (e.g., how to interpret a literary text or historical event) and reformulate it (i.e.,
conceive it differently, even oddly) in at least ten new ways (for example, one could
begin to reformulate the classic problem of explaining Hamlets inaction-- his
psychological disposition--as a moral problem: why is Hamlet caught among competing
moral values?). The focus of this sort of exercise is not on providing solutions but on
rethinking the nature of the problem itself.
Service learning Instructional projects that link community service and academic study
so that each strengthens the other. The basic theory of service-learning is that the
interaction of knowledge and skills with experience strengthens learning, and contributes
to the community in meaningful ways.
Thematic analysis Literary, scientific, political, philosophical (etc.) achievements can
be understood as events that emerge from the intersection of thematic trajectories. (One
might, for example, see The Wizard of Oz as a literary event shaped by thematic tensions
like: (a) gold vs. silver currency standards, (b) aristocratic vs. populist models of
government, (c) industrial vs. agrarian economies, (d) absolute vs. relative conceptions of
moral goodness, (e) developmental vs. fixed accounts of character, and so on.) Students
are encouraged first to identify and then apply thematic trajectories from their other
courses (whatever else they happen to be studying) and experiences with/to an event
under analysis in the home course.
Student-created web pages/sites for the purpose of information
dissemination/instruction Students initially undergo an individual or group research
project, and then are asked to manipulate the information and findings into a web-based
form that is instructive to others. In selecting, digesting, and organizing the material for
others, students approach the material more deeply and meaningfully.
Student creative construction (visual, performance, or literary) Based on a set of
criteria which are determined in the course and informed by course materials, students
determine a topic in which they will develop a creative project in order to convey any
number of themes. Either individually or collaboratively, students then produce an
artistic product. In the process of creative expression, students approach the material
more affectively and reflectively.