The
Center for
Academic Resources

Student Support Services

WHAT IS ACTIVE LEARNING?

Active learning means taking responsibility for your learning and developing habits of mind and study strategies that will be the means for accomplishing your academic goals. Responsibility is the toughest part: know that college expects that you will take charge of your learning -- that you will go to class, do assignments, and embrace confusion and "wrong answers" as opportunities to try again. There is plenty of help around -- faculty, advisors, hall staff, counselors, the Center -- but you have to make the first move. Generally at UNH it works this way: you be proactive (ask the question/bring up the concern); we'll be reactive (do the best we can to guide you towards a resolution of the issue). If it hasn't occurred to you yet, know that from here on in (UNH and beyond) you are THE responsible agent for your learning and life.

Developing habits of mind can take a while, but they flow nicely from being responsible for your learning. Think of habits of mind as your internal communication system. They are a way of guiding, checking in, and monitoring yourself during the learning process. Habits of mind might include:

  • What do I already know about the material?
  • How does it relate to other topics I've studied?
  • How does what I'm leaning fit/doesn't fit with what I already know about the world?
  • How do I know if the "facts" are accurate?
  • Let's recheck my work to see if my answer makes sense: does it address the question asked, the topic assigned?
  • Let's ask a question/collaborate with someone before I fall too far behind.
  • Let's listen completely, before I formulate a response.


Strive to develop habits of mind that will further your learning in college and beyond.

At first glance, study skills may appear to be the "easiest" to develop of the active learning components. Nonetheless, they will take practice and effort on your part; in fact, what worked for you in high school may not work for you in college. Important strategies for success in college include time management (generally a huge challenge for beginning students), note-taking, organizing course material, preparing for exams, using technology, and reading texts and materials. Know that we all learn in a different manner and pace: you will need to create strategies that fit your learning style and course demands.

The Center can support you in becoming an active learner -- we can coach you to become proactive, develop habits of mind, and craft strategic study skills that will make your academic experience in college interesting and successful. And we might note, the majority of students who spend as little as three hours with us report an improvement in their grades!