Active Learning

Learning to listen actively will assist you in your learning career. Active listening will help in the classroom, and it will help you get more out of and contribute more to group study sessions.

To listen actively, it is important to focus on the person who is talking. Don't fidget or become distracted by other people or events. Think about your experience with a subject in order to understand the subject more thoroughly. Don't think about your own bias or opinion; you are there to hear what the speaker has to say.

It will help if you concentrate on the speaker with your ears and eyes. Follow the movements the speaker makes in an effort to hear more. Don't interrupt the speaker. Make sure that all information has been conveyed before offering your opinion. Be involved at the end of the presentation. Ask questions in order to better understand the speaker and to remember the topic. It may help to give the speaker a minute or two to rest after a presentation.

Active listening will help you in a group study situation. Group study involves students exchanging information. This information may be factual, and it may also be opinion oriented. When opinions are stated, active listening becomes vital. In a group study situation, it may help to restate what you hear others say in an effort to understand their thoughts.

One of the objectives of group study is to learn something. Another objective is to produce a final project that has been assigned. Either one of these objectives are dependent on the listening ability of the members of the group.