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Humans are practical creatures. They are all about ‘doing’. Ask a person to sit still for a while; they will fidget till it is not possible anymore.

As Confucius said, “I hear, I forget. I see, and I remember, I do, and I never forget.”

So, isn’t it apt that the learning process should also take place for tiny humans (children) by the method of active learning?

The term ‘active learning’ was coined by R W Revans stating that it is the process by which students learn by a method other than by passive listening.

It is a method by which students learn actively or by performing experiments.

It is teacher-centred learning that involves learning by doing. It is also known as learning by play.

This system of learning is followed all around the world and is being followed in India at the level of primary schooling known as Montessori.

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The principles of active learning include:

  1. Purpose:

Learning about each activity must have a purpose. Each activity must lead to the expansion in the learning ability of the students.

  1. Reflection:

The students must be able to understand and replicate their knowledge, in other words, reflective.

  1. Negotiation skills:

Every student in this system should have the negotiation skills to obtain what they want on their own.

  1. Critical:

The students must be capable of critical thinking to assess the situation at hand.

  1. Complex:

Students must be able to understand complex topics and process them to understand better.

  1. Situation Driven:

The students must learn to face any situation to face difficulties.

  1. Engaging:

The students must be given real life situations to deal with to educate them on what is going on in the world and teach them how to handle it. This should engage them and hold their interest.

The active learning process is based on a couple of maxims:

  1. Think it through:

This maxim is created to enable the students to analyse the situation, think of various solutions to the problem, select the best option among them, plan a path of action and carry it out.

  1. Make and use association:

This maxim stresses the importance of segregating information available into small chunks and then it is to be remembered by the various memory techniques made available to them.

These chunks of information must continually be reinforced so that the student knows and understands what they are learning.

In situation analysis, the students must be able to arrange these chunks of information into a coherent and understandable pattern to analyse assess and formulate solutions to the given situation; this will improve their meta-cognitive performance.

Even the laboratory process that each student has in their higher study is an extension of this active learning system where they learn to follow protocols to arrive at an answer to a problem or in their case, hypotheses.

Active learning is not necessarily taught at schools but can also be practised at home. Some home tutors, like the ones available Tuition Teacher in Mumbai at Genextstudents.com, follow this teaching methodology to make the learning of their students more effectively.

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