Active Learning concerns educational activities in which the student takes a participatory role in the process. Active Learning may include educational games, discussion groups, writing, teamwork, and the like. It grows out of a Constructivist view of education. Questions here might involve how to achieve active learning and tools to facilitate it.
In an Active Learning situation a student isn't a passive consumer of lecture materials. The student participates in some way such as playing an educational game, or working in a small group to formulate questions for the instructor. Student research on course topics is another example. Student writing (rather than reading), for example, can be used to help the student "construct" ideas and leads to positive outcomes. Active Learning is an outgrowth of Constructivism.
