Teachersʼ assessment of active learning in teaching Nature and Society

Abstract

The basic role of contemporary education is to guide pupils towards active learning and make them contribute to all segments of the teaching process. Since active learning leads towards efficient education, and since it encourages and develops knowledge, skills and attitudes, teachers should promote this type of learning from the beginning of one's schooling. This paper's aim was to study to what extent teachers conduct various teaching strategies in active learning in teaching Nature and Society and if the environment stimulates the active acquisition of knowledge, skills and attitudes. The research was conducted on a sample of teachers (N ¼ 184) from three counties in the Republic of Croatia. The research results show that active learning and various teaching strategies are to a great extent conducted in a stimulating environment at the beginning of education, but at the same time they point to the need of a higher encouragement of this learning form, for pupils to be able to learn actively and create learning communities at later levels of education.

Does Blended Learning Improve the Academic Achievement of Undergraduate Students in the Mathematics Course?: A Case Study in Higher Education

“…Current twenty-first-century society faces many changes in all areas of life, including the educational field (Almaiah, Al-Khasawneh, & Althunibat, 2020;Malik, 2018;Meyer & Norman, 2020;Rahman, Singh, & Pandian, 2018;Stuchlikova, 2016;Velle, 2020). Emphasis in the field of education has moved to active learning for students, which is defined as mentally active learning that keeps students engaged, and where the instructor or teacher can select the preferred method of teaching style based on the student's needs, instead of merely transferring information, which means concentrating on the quality of education (Fitzsimons, 2014;Marina & Tatjana, 2020;Rocher, 2018). According to constructivist theories, the learner builds their own knowledge through social interaction with others and the environment, and builds new knowledge based on previous knowledge and experience (Ayse, 2008).…”

Applying Active Learning Strategies to Develop the Professional Teaching Competency of Chinese College Student Teachers in the Context of Geography Education

“…Active learning is contrary to traditional passive learning (Stover & Ziswiler, 2017). It is characterised by being student-centred, experiential, and involving cooperative learning to help the learners obtain new abilities in a more positive way (Diković & Gergorić, 2020). Their abilities are supported by common active learning strategies, including visual-based instructions, case studies, cooperative learning, role-playing and simulations, think-pair-share, visual aids, and so on (Daouk et al, 2016;McConnell et al, 2017).…”

Incorporation of Small-Group Learning Activities into Biology Lectures to Enhance Learning at a University in Pretoria, South Africa

“…Education plays a crucial role in every society and should be given priority as it directs economic and social growth (Diković & Gergorić, 2020). At institutions of higher learning, education is about complex learning, with large amounts of information needing to be organized and remembered (Knight, 2010).…”

“…Learning should take place when individuals construct their own knowledge individually or socially (Cattaneo, 2017). As such, institutions of education should promote students' social and individual activity in the present society (Diković & Gergorić, 2020).…”

“…According to Hartikainen et al (2019), active learning can be described as a wide concept related to learning that is student-centered and includes activities and instructions given by the instructors. Active learning involves deep learning which leads to better retention of knowledge, skills in higher order thinking, engagement, and participation of the students (Bonwell & Eison, 1991), whilst in the traditional way of teaching, the emphasis is on the recalling of facts and remembering of information (Diković & Gergorić, 2020). According to Cattaneo (2017), active learning is not new, and its promotion is gaining momentum in academic literature and policies as a viable solution for the enhanced achievement of students.…”