Active Versus Passive Learning

by David Byers, PhD, and Chandra Byers
author of College Prep Homeschooling
soon to be released by Mapletree Publishing Company

In school, students can obtain knowledge through a variety of learning experiences, such as reading assigned material, attending class, paying attention to the teacher, listening to live or recorded lectures and presentations, and watching instructional sessions presented live or on tape. They can also use resources such as the library or Internet to locate and review materials related to the subject they are studying. Being able to read, listen, and pay attention in class are helpful skills for students to have to actively obtain knowledge!

However, for some students, obtaining knowledge seems like a rather passive activity much like watching television, which is one of the primary reasons why many students experience difficulties learning in college. They believe that just by attending class, where they often expect to be entertained, the instructor will make them learn. It’s almost as if some students expect the wise professor to open the tops of their heads and pour the knowledge in. Subsequently, these students often blame their professors for their own failure to learn.

In all levels of education, but in college especially, students should be active rather than passive learners. Self-directed learners are often active learners—they seek to learn new information and find ways to put it to use.

Resources for Self-Directed Learning

The easiest way to help your child become a self-directed learner is to create a learning environment in which he or she is primarily responsible for finding answers to questions or problems. With so much knowledge readily available, there really is no reason why any student should answer a question with, “I don’t know.” A more acceptable response should be, “I don’t know, but I can find out.” To find out, your child needs to learn to use resources.

The earlier you teach your child to find his or her own answers, the better. However, you can help even your high school child become an active learner by using some very simple learning resources—a dictionary, a thesaurus, and a comprehensive source of knowledge, such as the library, a set of encyclopedias, and/or the Internet.

One of the most important resources that every student should own is a good dictionary—a physical book, not an electronic version on the computer. Of course, every student should also learn how to use this vital tool to the point that he/she is proficient with it.

A dictionary provides a wealth of information. For those who don’t spell well, a dictionary is a resource beyond compare. Many students today rely heavily on spelling and grammar checks on their computers. However, after years of grading college papers, David can tell you that these electronic tools are not reliable and that students who live by them often “die” by them.

Dictionaries help students with so much more than just how to spell words. What other resource can teach a word’s pronunciation, meaning, origins, parts of speech, and variations? If your child has difficulty with spelling, make it a requirement to grab his dictionary and learn.

In the college classroom, David is always glad when students ask questions—even about the meaning of a word that he used, but with which they aren’t familiar. However, too many students come to class and ask how to define or pronounce a word that was in their reading materials. Dave used to respond, “Why didn’t you just look it up in your dictionary?” He has stopped asking that question because he’s always dismayed by the number of college students who don’t even own a dictionary.

The second most important learning resource that every student should own is a good thesaurus—again, a book rather than an electronic version. A thesaurus is invaluable for students who want to write well—and every student should learn to write well. Not every student can be a Pulitzer Prize winner, however, students should know how to use words in the correct context and they should be able to use a variety of words when they write so that they don’t repeat the same ones too frequently throughout their papers.

The last resource can be one of any number of comprehensive-knowledge resources, such as the library, an encyclopedia, or the Internet. There isn’t much that can’t be found on the Internet, which is why some parents (homeschoolers or not) prefer not to have their children use this resource for school—for fear of what their children might find. Although there are inherent dangers with the Internet, including potential to view inappropriate sites and exposure to computer viruses, there are ways to minimize or prevent these risks while allowing children to appropriately use this resource.

Another resource that your child can use to develop self-directed learning skills is the library. If your library doesn’t have an extensive collection, it may have a sharing agreement with other libraries, which will allow you to borrow even more books and materials. No matter the size of the library, most of them have a set of encyclopedias, which is a great way to teach your child to find the information he or she needs.