Active Learning

What is Active Learning?

Cornell University describes active learning that truly draws students attention. They are not just doing the basics, retaining information. Students are participating in problem solving strategies, discussions, and more. I like to think the name says it all - the students are active in the learning and play a role in their own learning as well as their classmates' learning. 

Jigsaw Discussions

Jigsaw discussions are a great way to get your students engaged in active learning. This strategy can be used with most grades (probably third through twelfth). 

How do you implement it? 

1. Place students in the number of groups dependent on the number of parts to your assignment.

2. The group students start in is called their “home group”. This group is made up of students each doing different things

3. Within their “home groups” assign each student a topic or task to complete. No one in this group should have the same task or topic. 

4. Once students have their assignment, students with the same task can work together to become experts on their topic. This is called the “expert group”.

5. Provide students time to work with their expert group anc complete their task. Each student should still be completing their own copy of the assignment.

6. Once students have finished in their expert group, students return to their home groups. Each student then shares what they learned in their expert group with their home group

The idea with jigsaw discussions is students are not learning all the material at once. They get to focus on one part and become an expert in that. They then will learn the other components from their home group. Therefore, they are still getting all the information. This strategy supports active learning because all students are engaged in a learning task while then also required to teach someone else what they learned.

Source: FreePik

My Experience

Jigsaw discussions are a popular active learning strategy in my classroom. My students love it because they get to be a part of two groups and work with a number of their classmates. I love implementing it because it is a great way to get all students involved in the learning and it is a great way to differentiate without students even knowing. 

I just did a jigsaw discussion in my classroom this week in science. (I feel science and social studies lend themselves well to this strategy, however it can be used in any content area) In my science class we are learning about energy and where energy can come from. We explored four different types of energy: solar, wind, water, and fossil fuel. Because there are four categories I put students into groups of four. These initial groups are their home groups. I assigned students the type of energy they were going to be researching about. I was able to assign students within these home groups the energy I wanted based on how I wanted to differentiate. (Therefore, you must plan for these jigsaws strategically prior to the implementation.) Students then were able to work with the other students who were researching the same energy source as them.. This is their expert group. Students had a graphic organizer of things they needed to make sure they found out about their energy source as well as the text provided to them. After giving students ample time to become experts in their energy source, students then report back to their home group about the energy source they become an expert on. While one student was reporting out, the other students were completing the other portion of the graphic organizer. Having students write and take notes as the other people in their home group share, keeps them accountable and on task. 

This is a generic graphic organizer you can use with any topic. You can also create your to meet the needs of your students and the lesson.