Active Learning: Engaging Students in the Learning Process

UGA seeks to assist faculty in transforming undergraduate courses to actively engage students in their learning by using innovative, evidence-based instructional practices. The Office of Instruction assists schools and colleges in enhancing various instructional spaces across campus to further support students’ active engagement.

In this workshop, hear more about this initiative and learn some tools for your own trainings, workshops, and programs to create more active learning.  Participants are encouraged to share their best practices as part of the workshop’s design.

Target Audience: PSO faculty and staff who design or deliver instructional content in programs, workshops, or courses.

Learning Outcomes:

  • Explain the UGA focus on active learning and its impact on undergraduate education.
  • Develop two-to-four new active learning strategies to use in their own trainings, programs, and/or classrooms.

Presenter:

Leah Carmichael, director, Active Learning
As UGA’s first director of Active Learning, Leah leads the implementation of a five-year, $6 million campus-wide initiative to promote and enhance the use of active learning strategies in the undergraduate classroom. Active learning moves beyond the standard lecture to engage students in the classroom, encouraging them to be active participants as they work to build knowledge and reflect on the learning process. It includes activities that provide immediate feedback, such as problem-solving, in-class group work, and reflective writing. Leah has been a lecturer at UGA since 2016, teaching courses on international relations, international law, global issues, and the international politics of food, among other topics.