While I am already aware of the benefits of active learning, I struggle to bring these techniques into my classroom. My courses occur in the first 10 weeks of an accellerated program where many students are back in school for the first time since high school. They have a lot of catching up to do when it comes to writing, comprehension, the college environment, and math skills. There is a very real fear that changing techniques could lead to students missing something absolutely essential that the current techniques have been satisfactorily teaching. I am also in my first year teaching in the program, so I am not sure my skills are advanced enough yet to make a big leap into all active learning. So I have been choosing to incorporate a little bit here, a little bit there and know that even these small changes are a positive trend toward active learning. It builds my confidence in using these techniques that are new to me, and it should allay my fears that my students will miss out as assessment shows that they are learning those necessary items.
