Are you tired of forgetting what you learned just days after studying?
Well, active learning might be the solution you’re looking for.
Unlike passive methods like reading or listening, active learning engages your mind in deeper, more meaningful ways, helping you retain more information and apply it in real-life situations.
Whether you’re in a classroom, online, or out in the real world, active learning encourages you to take control of your education by participating in activities that reinforce what you learn.
This is particularly crucial in online learning environments where personal interaction with teachers or peers is limited.
In this guide, we’ll explore simple yet powerful strategies to help you engage more fully with your learning and boost your long-term retention.
What is active learning?
Active learning is an approach where students engage directly with the material through hands-on experiences, reflection, and application.
Unlike passive learning, which often involves just listening or reading, active learning requires you to interact with the content.
You are encouraged to analyze, evaluate, and apply knowledge, making learning more effective and memorable.
This is particularly important in online environments, where the lack of physical interaction can make engagement more challenging.
Research shows that active learning significantly improves retention — students involved in active learning were found to perform up to 6% better on tests compared to those in traditional lectures, according to a study published in Psychological and Cognitive Sciences.
This means that when you actively participate in the learning process, you become more invested in understanding the material, which helps strengthen memory and critical thinking skills.
How to define your objectives
Before jumping into active learning, it’s essential to set clear goals.
What do you need to learn?
Identify the key content, and outline specific objectives for what you want to accomplish.
With a clear roadmap, your learning will become more focused and intentional.
For this, you should start by diving into reading and research to build a strong foundation.
From there, you can choose a variety of learning activities that match your goals. Not every activity will align perfectly with your learning style, but that’s okay.
Experimenting with different approaches will help you discover the methods that work best for you.
Individual activities for active learning
Active listening
As we pointed out, active listening is one of the most powerful ways to fully engage with what you’re learning.
It’s not just about hearing words — it’s about understanding the message behind them.
Whether you’re in a lecture, a conversation, or a group discussion, active listening requires full attention.
Your goal is to focus on the speaker and understand their key points well enough to paraphrase them back in your own words.
This doesn’t mean agreeing with everything they say — it’s about ensuring you grasp their message. The result is better retention and a deeper connection to the material being discussed.
Looking and seeing
Visual aids like graphs, images, and maps are powerful tools for learning.
When you encounter a visual, don’t just glance at it—actively engage with it.
Think about the key message it’s trying to convey and how it connects to what you’re learning. Pay attention to the details like color, organization, and context, which can help you interpret the information.
For example, understanding a graph in a textbook or an image in a presentation requires more than just seeing it; you need to analyze it in its context and ask questions about its purpose and meaning.
This helps reinforce the material and deepen your understanding.
Collaborative activities for active learning
Seeing and hearing
Multimedia presentations, movies, and demonstrations offer another layer of engagement. They combine visual and auditory learning, making complex ideas easier to understand.
In addition, field trips or virtual tours provide real-world applications of classroom content.
You don’t necessarily need to wait for a scheduled trip—many industries offer tours or webinars.
Whether you visit a factory or attend an online demonstration, witnessing how concepts apply in the real world enhances your learning experience.
Key tip: Don’t just passively observe. Take notes, ask questions, and reflect on how these experiences relate to your studies.
The Cone of Learning
The “Cone of Learning,” developed by Edgar Dale, illustrates that we remember more by actively engaging with information.
While passive activities like reading and listening have value, they tend to result in lower retention.
According to the model:
- Reading: We retain about 10% of what we read.
- Listening: Around 20% retention.
- Looking/seeing: Visual learning gives us a 30% retention rate.
- Seeing and hearing: Combining audio and visuals can increase retention to 50%.
- Speaking: Actively discussing material boosts retention to 70%.
- Saying and doing: Fully engaging in an activity leads to a 90% retention rate.
This suggests that deeper engagement—speaking, practicing, and doing—leads to better learning outcomes. The more actively involved you are, the more you remember and understand.
Collaborative group learning
Classroom, online and public presentations
Presenting your ideas is one of the most dynamic forms of active learning. Whether you’re giving a speech, producing a multimedia project, or writing a blog, presentations push you to refine your ideas and communicate them clearly.
To prepare:
- Define your objective: What’s the key takeaway for your audience?
- Develop your voice: What’s your unique perspective or point of view?
- Plan the content: Outline the main points and flow.
- Choose the right tools: Select the best media, slides, or technology to convey your message.
- Practice: Rehearse and refine before presenting.
- Evaluate: After presenting, reflect on what worked well and how you can improve.
Presenting content forces you to engage deeply with the material and encourages you to think critically about your message.
Saying and doing: Practicing what you learn
Research shows that we remember more by doing. Hands-on experiences such as giving talks, participating in debates, or taking part in simulations allow you to apply what you’ve learned in practical settings.
These methods go beyond theory, helping you internalize the content.
Some examples of active learning in action include:
- Conducting interviews or oral histories
- Role-playing scenarios to understand different perspectives
- Leading group discussions or study sessions
- Participating in simulations or case studies
Each of these activities requires you to actively engage with the material, helping you not only retain information but also understand it more deeply.
Why is writing part of active learning?
Writing isn’t just an output — it’s a process of refining what you’ve learned.
Through writing, you clarify your thoughts and demonstrate your understanding. Writing can be an individual exercise, but it can also be collaborative.
In an online or classroom setting, you can provide feedback on other students’ writing, helping each other improve.
Good writing is a process, not just a first draft. Here’s how to approach it:
- Understand the audience: Who are you writing for?
- Refine the message: What are you trying to communicate?
- Collaborate: Get feedback and learn how others interpret your writing.
- Revise: Edit for clarity, grammar, and tone.
Working with peers on writing tasks mirrors real-world job environments, where collaboration is essential.
Final thoughts
Active learning is a powerful way to enhance your educational experience.
By engaging with material through listening, seeing, speaking, and doing, you deepen your understanding and retention.
Whether you’re learning individually or in a group, the key is to stay curious, open-minded, and actively involved in the process.
Keep experimenting with different learning methods, and you’ll discover what works best for you.