Active Learning Resources
Do Internet searches on "active learning," or "flipping the classroom" and the list of results will get longer every day. The resources on this page are a small sub-set of web sites, articles, and tools particularly relevant to the Active Learning Catalysts project due to the methodology and/or discipline that the address. Most of these resources focus to a greater degree on implementation than research. The "References Cited" section of the TUES grant project description includes more research-oriented sources.
We will add more resources as the project progress. Feel free to send suggestions.
- "About the SCALE-UP Project..." This North Carolina State University web page provides a brief introduction to SCALE-UP, the specific active learning model that is at the foundation of the Catalysts project.
- The Official SCALE-UP site has links to schools and faculty using SCALE-UP, instructional materials, and a large amount of useful miscellaneous information. Free registration is required to access some parts of the site.
- "7 Things You Should Know About Flipped Classrooms" is a two page overview of the "flipped" concept from the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI).
- "How to implement studio teaching" A nice site from Carleton College, general information about studio teaching plus a focus on Georaphical Sciences.
- University of Minnesota Active Learning Classrooms - The University of Minnesota's high-tech active learning classrooms inspired NMU's classroom. This web site includes information about their classrooms, general information about studio classrooms, and links to other resources. The "Inside Active Learning Classrooms" video highlights a biology class taught in their pilot rooms.
- MIT's Technology-Enhanced Active Learning (TEAL) - The Massachusetts Institute of Technology's TEAL project initially had an emphasis on physics. This is one site about TEAL; do a search for TEAL and MIT and you'll find several other sites and articles.
- "Active Learning in Mechanical Engineering" - Another MIT project, apparently separate from TEAL, that utilizies desktop experiments and web-based interactive learning modules.
- MERLOT Pedagogy Portal - Designed to help faculty learn about a variety of instructional strategies and issues, this site includes a page of highlighted active learning resources and links to many other active learning resources cataloged in the MERLOT collection.
- "Using online lectures to support active learning - Case study" - A short video outlining how chemistry professors at the University of New South Wales use recorded mini lectures and clickers to support active learning in their courses.
- "Active Learning in Large Lectures" (case studies) - Part of the award winning MERLOT ELIXR series of case studies, these three focus on using active learning in large courses, with examples from chemistry, geo sciences, and geology.
- "Physicists Seek To Lose The Lecture As Teaching Tool," a segment on NPR's All Things Considered program, highlighted active learning efforts at the University of Maryland and Harvard University. Audio and a transcript are available through the link; there is also a link to a more in-depth article.
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The SCALE-UP site is a must-visit for anyone interested in active learning studio classrooms.
"Active Learning Groups in Organic Chemistry" is one of three MERLOT ELIXR case stories in the "Active Learning in Large Lectures" set.