Today we are living in a world that is different from the world where we went to school many years ago. Many things that used to work in the past are no longer work today. Change happens everywhere and impacts everything so the way we teach also needs to change. Today active learning method is being used in many U.S schools and begin to spread to other countries but some teachers are still hesitate because they are not comfortable with the idea that students be “The active learners” and responsible for their own learning.
To develop a professional career today, students must have both the knowledge and the skills. The traditional lecturing method that focus mostly on memorization does not meet today’s market needs. Basically by actively engage in learning, students learn more and remember materials for a long time. Students learn more when they know why the material is important, why they must know it, and how it helps them in their future career. Students learn more when they interact with others via class discussion. Students learn more by doing the work then talk to others about it. Students learn more when they understand it, not on the surface but at deeper level then it becomes their own knowledge. Students learn more when they begin to ask questions then find the answers themselves. Students learn more when they challenge the logics and the reasons then come up with new ideas, new concepts as another way to solve problems. Students learn more when begin to come up with new ideas than the course materials and this is where innovations happen.
By actively engage in the learning process, students will love to learn more, this is what creates the habit of lifelong learning. Eventually students will be changed by what they learn, how they think, and they begin see how everything is connected, related, and integrated in the world around them. Learning habit will become a passion for knowledge. It will motivate students not only to learn, but also how to learn in a meaningful way. By engage actively in learning, students will learn how to do their best to keep up with all knowledge available, on their field as well as outside of their field and being a knowledgeable professional.
I think these are reasons to change the way we teach. We need to help students move away from the traditional method that based on teachers transfer knowledge to students toward teachers guide students to actively learn by doing, learn by engaging, to develop a lifelong learning attitude.
