Participatory learning is "the body of the lesson, where learners are involved as actively in the learning process as possible. There is an intentional sequence of activities or learning events that will help the learner achieve the specified objective or desired outcome" (source).
As illustrated in the examples below, the focus is on the learner actively engaging and participating in the learning process (hence the term active learning).
These documents (pdf) provide various approaches to incorporating active learning into the learning process:
Think - Pair - Share |
Cooperative Groups in Class |
Self-Assessment |
Brainstorming 1. Instructor introduces a concept or question to the class and asks the learners to reflect for a moment and then report their ideas out to the broader class. The instructor, or the learners, then note their responses on the board. Alternatively, instructors can create questions online using software such as Kahoot or Poll Everywhere. Students can then record their ideas online and the software will display the various ideas, often as word clouds. 2. Gallery walk: Instructor notes several questions / concepts on a series of flip chart paper around the room. Learners then walk-around the room, noting their ideas on each paper. This can also be done in groups. Dotmocracy: Use this activity if the goal of the brainstorming activity is to build consensus or rank ideas. Learners are given six dotted stickers and are asked to vote for their top six ideas by placing their stickers on their preferred choices (e.g.: learners can give six stickers to one idea, one sticker to six different ideas). Learners can then visually access the distribution of the sticky dots. |
One Word Splash |
Sorting Strips |
Jigsaw discussion |
One Minute Paper / Free Write |
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