This is an exemplary volume. It combines theory and praxis in judicious measure. It will be of interest both to the active learning True Believer and to the skeptic. The range of suggested teaching activities is eclectic and stimulating.
Karl A. Smith, contributor of the chapter "Cooperative Learning: Making 'Groupwork' Work," begins by acknowledging that
When students attend a college class, they typically expect to sit passively and listen to a professor "profess"; they expect to be evaluated based on their individual course work--exams, papers, and quizzes--and they bring with them a set of norms for interacting with their classmates. Based on their past experiences with school, many students believe that they are in competition with their classmates for scarce resources--good gradesThis prefaces a good discussion of cooperative learning as a "third way" different from the two traditional ways students interact in class: competitively (the war of all against each for the good grades) and not at all.
At the other end of the spectrum of active learning ideas in this book is an essay on "the enhanced lecture." This is for teachers who are committed to the idea of lecturing but for some reason--perhaps student dissatisfaction, or because they recognize what research has amply proven, that students cannot and do not stay attentive for 50 consecutive minutes--want to incorporate some active learning principles in their teaching. The author, Charles C. Bonwell, begins with a fair summary of the advantages and disadvantages of the traditional lecture, then provides suggestion of active learning devices which can enhance it: the pause procedure; short writes; think-pair-share; formative quizzes (an interesting way of looking at ungraded but quiz-like exercises); lecture summaries; and other classroom assessment techniques such as those recommended by Angelo and Cross's crucial 1993 volume. Bonwell attractively couples these suggestions with a frank account of his own disastrous results when first attempting to use them.
This is typically disarming. The book is authoritative but modest; well-written, eschewing jargon and including some very welcome humor.
The chapters devoted to particular parts of the active learning jigsaw are all good; in addition to the enhanced lecture, and collaborative learning, they include "Providing Structure; The Critical Element," "Encouraging Self-Assessment: Writing as Active Learning," and "Using Electronic Tools to Promote Active Learning."
There are, in addition, a first and last chapter which are more theoretical. The introduction acknowledges five major reasons why professors resist active learning:
One cannot cover as much content in class; active learning requires too much time in preparation for class; it seems impossible to use active learning approaches in large classes; materials and resources are lacking; and there are many risks to be considered, including how colleagues will perceive the legitimacy of the approaches, how student evaluations might be influenced, and how promotion and tenure might be affectedI think the fear of what one's colleagues will think--especially one's more senior colleagues, who may sit in judgment at tenure and promotion time--is a powerful deterrent. The book contains a chilling anecdote about a young faculty member whose active learning class was being visited by a senior member of her department; after a bit, he rose and said, loud enough for all the students to hear, "I'll come back some day when you're teaching."
It would be wrong to imply that this book removes all those sources of concern, but it goes some distance in that direction, and gives enough ideas about active learning to satisfy teachers at all stages along the "active learning continuum." I recommend it very highly to anyone concerned with effective teaching.
Merritt Moseley
University of North Carolina at Asheville