Full Description
Active learning has become one of the most widely discussed ideas in university teaching, but what exactly is it? And does it work? Experiencing Active Learning Practice in Higher Education examines what active learning looks like today from both staff and student perspectives, explores the issues currently shaping debate among practitioners, and considers what its future might hold.
The book is organised in three sections. The first establishes the current landscape, tracing how definitions of active learning have evolved, reviewing the evidence for its effectiveness, and identifying the personal and institutional barriers educators face. In the second section contributors from across disciplines and institutions tackle pressing issues as they apply to active learning: equity and inclusion, technology, disciplinarity, assessment, the ethical dimensions of classroom power dynamics, building community and belonging and artificial intelligence. Each chapter incorporates student voices alongside academic research. The final section looks ahead, offering practitioner and student reflections on how active learning might develop amid technological, cultural, and global change.
This book interrogates the lived experience of active learning — what it feels like for the people delivering and receiving it. By foregrounding student perspectives alongside evidence-informed analysis, it offers educators, programme leaders, and educational developers a frank, research-grounded account of where active learning stands now, the challenges it faces, and how it might evolve in an increasingly AI-shaped educational landscape.
Contents
Author Biographies
Preface
Introduction: Teaching as if learning matters
Section 1: The State of the Art
1. What is this thing called "Active Learning"?
2. Does Active Learning work?
3. What barriers exist for educators in adopting active learning?
4. Student perspectives on active learning
5. The anxiety of active learning
6. Active learning: agency and advocacy in overcoming barriers
Section 2: Current Issues and Debates Around Active Learning
7a. Equity and inclusion in active learning
7b. Student Perspective: Who gets to participate? Equity, Inclusion and Active Learning
8a. Does academic discipline make a difference?
8b. Student Perspective: Active learning across disciplines: A student perspective
9a. Ethical dimensions of active learning
9b Student Perspective: Draft power dynamics and moral outsourcing
10a. A model for active learning and technology: Opportunities and critical considerations
10b. Student Perspective: Effective use of technology for active learning student reflection
11a. From participation to performance: Peer evaluation and active learning
11b. Student Perspective: Active Learning vs Assessment in Public Health Education
12a. Modelling real active learning in the realm of artificial intelligence
12b. Student Perspective: What difference will artificial intelligence make for active learning?
13a. Building student belonging and community through active learning
13b. Student Perspective: Building communities through active learning
Section 3: The Future of Active Learning
Educator Perspectives
14a. Imagining a sustainable future for active learning
14b. The future of active learning: Creativity, grounding and belonging in the future classroom
14c. The future of active learning in UK universities
Student Perspectives
15a. Beyond the lecture: Re-thinking how we learn
15b. Can active learning survive the screen?
15c. From activity to impact: Re-thinking the future of active learning
15d. Active Learning: Does that compute?
