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Rebecca Khaimova

Dr. Smith

ENG 101 B24O

October 17, 2017

The Efficient Way of Teaching

In todays society, many students struggle to achieve excellence. This is due to

the burden of incorrect teaching strategies that are enforced by professors. There are

many students from different cultural backgrounds who have the inability to gain proper

knowledge. This is primarily due to their financial status, ethnicity and environment.

Professors have enforced different techniques, which in their opinion is the correct way

of teaching. However, over the years a new method of teaching was initiated. This new

way of teaching helped many different students from different backgrounds achieve a

more beneficial way of learning. Active Learning is the most efficient and strategic way

for teaching students today.

Active learning is an educational strategy used by some professors, which gives

students new methods to interpret information. Active learning is the students doing

things and thinking about what they are doing (Bonwell and Eison). This teaching

strategy lets the students engage with their classmates and understand the information

that was taught. In active learning, professors use different methods for learning rather

than the old fashioned styled lecture. Students take advantage of working in groups, peer

review, role-playing, case studies, group projects, and class discussions. Some professors

even give out consistent quizzes to determine if the student is memorizing or rereading
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the textbook. Active learning has really set the bar for professors and their techniques for

distributing information.

In todays society, the problem for most students is the ability to stay in a room

for two hours and concentrate for the entire duration of the class. They sit and listen to an

entire lecture, counting down the minutes until it will finally be over. After their tedious

lecture is complete, they havent comprehended a single thing that was taught. Some

professors dont know how to properly educate their students. In Paulo Freires The

Banking Concept of Education, he states This is the banking concept of education in

which the scope of action allowed to the students extends only as far as receiving, filling,

and storing deposits.(Paulo Freire 244) Instructors use the banking theory where the

student only listens and interprets. On the contrary, active learning lets the student engage

with their professors and their classmates. They are consistently working in groups and

have the opportunity to ask questions. The professor may propose a topic that the student

does not understand. If the students classmate is able to understand the topic he can

explain it to their peers. Active learning is also beneficial for women, minorities, and

low-income students. Students who have a low income might have received a poor

academic experience from their previous schools. In Annie Murphy Pauls review, Are

College Lectures Unfair? she explains, Students with more background knowledge will

be able to absorb and retain what they hear.(Anne Murphy Paul) Typically, students

who were raised in a rich academic environment had better learning abilities than

students who were brought up in low-income neighborhoods. This is due to their

participation in after school activities, which helped them to learn in more stressful

settings. In contrast with the wealthier class of students, the low-income, minority
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students who attended active learning courses turned out to spend more time studying and

comprehending their topic of study. Structured active learning courses also resulted in

better final grades for most students.

In retrospect, there are many professors that are against using this method of

teaching. These professors may argue that active learning may not be useful with their

lecture and can take up lecture time. Another issue that may arise from these exercises is

the fact that many students in college are anti-social and dont like to associate

themselves with their peers. Others argue that active learning is a distraction. Since

students have the ability to work with others as well as work on their devices, they might

be led off topic. Several students will engage in conversations that are meaningless to the

subject. Various classrooms are tech friendly which means active learning plays a huge

role in the technological setting of the classroom. However, during the class time there

may be technological issues that can hinder the professors ability to enforce the active

learning exercises. Although all these factors may be true in some cases, they can all be

clarified.

Many professors may argue that active learning exercises do not benefit the

student and their learning ability. This may be due to lecture time capacity, students

ability to communicate, or technological issues. However, all these issue can be

addressed and fixed. Learning to work well with others will help many students with their

communication skills. Having good communication skills is an essential quality that

many employers look for when they are hiring for positions. Communicating with others

around may also benefit with daily life activities and may help you with long-term goals.

Another factor that needs to be addressed is the fact that many professors think that active
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learning can be a distraction. If students work efficiently to complete a given task and

take the time to fully understand the given concept, they are guaranteed to succeed.

Technology can also be a big issue with how ALEs are addressed. However, this

problem can always be solved. The professor can come in a few minutes earlier to

confirm that everything is working as its suppose to be. If the professor is still

experiencing problems, they can skip the active learning exercise and move on to teach

the lecture material until the problem is fixed. Active learning has been proven to be

successful method in many students academic lives. In many scenarios students typically

have that aha moment when theyre highly engaged and have a good meaning of what

theyre learning. Active learning prevents students from falling asleep in class. It makes

sure they are fully awake and are ready to work. It may also create ways for the student to

remember certain topics. If a student is preforming a presentation with other students they

are more likely to remember what they are saying when they speak out loud. They have

more chances of repeating and practicing their presentation as well as the information

they need to know.

Throughout the years, instructors have used numerous strategies to help students

focus and understand their lectures. Unfortunately, many of these instructors have failed

to efficiently teach their students. They have used methods that resulted in students

falling off track during the duration of their class. The banking concept by Paulo Freire

is a good example of why some students arent absorbing a good amount of information.

Students are like a bank that can receive, fill and store the deposits. Their minds are not

constantly working preventing them from learning the material for a long period of time.

Letting students engage with their peers by case studies, group work, presentations, and
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peer review, have resulted in better grades. Professors who have used the active learning

strategy have come to realize that most of their students are benefiting from it.

Ultimately, the concept of active learning has not only made students achieve academic

prosperity, but will also help them to overcome any future life challenges.
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Works Cited

Bonwell, Charles C, and James A Eison. Active Learning: Creating Excitement in The

Classroom. Active Learning: Creating Excitement in The Classroom, 1 Nov.

19991, files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED336049.pdf.

Freire, Paulo. The "Banking" Concept of Education". Paulo Freire,

www.pitt.edu/~writecen/BankingConcept.pdf.

Paul, Annie Murphy. Opinion | Are College Lectures Unfair? The New York Times,

The New York Times, 12 Sept. 2015,

www.nytimes.com/2015/09/13/opinion/sunday/are-college-lectures-unfair.html.