What about active learning?

The process of having students engage in some activity that forces them to reflect upon ideas and upon how they are using those ideas. Requiring students to regularly assess their own degree of understanding and skill at handling concepts or problems in a particular discipline. The attainment of knowledge by participating or contributing. The process of keeping students mentally, and often physically, active in their learning through activities that involve them in gathering information, thinking, and problem solving.
Tell me and I forget.
Show me and I remember.
Involve me and I understand.
  • Aristotle
  • Confucius
  • Benjamin Franklin
  • Native American proverb
  • Voltaire
Active learning , n.
  1. The opposite of obedience lessons.
  2. The strange idea that learning and learners should not be as passive as the dead. Like the dead, active learning is a source of wonder and dread to some of the living. (thanks to Jeremiah Parry-Hill for the nudge)

Notes

As you can see, there is quite a range of definitions for the active learning concept.

I like the Greenwood because it has recommendations detailed enough to help drive instructional design decisions.

The "Tell me ..." quote has been attributed or claimed by a number of authors. Must be a popular idea.

The last definition, well someone told me I should add a little humor :)

This assortment of definitions means that we have to be very careful whenever we read studies or comments on the effectiveness of active learning.