March 31, 2022
by Jere W. Morehead, President
The University of Georgia is creating a culture of active learning for undergraduates that promotes curiosity, initiative, reflection, and connections across learning environments. This initiative builds on a strong history of student learning enhancements that have helped UGA become a national leader in higher education.
Within a culture of active learning, students are active participants in the classroom, learning is understood as the construction of knowledge rather than its absorption, and instructors guide students to construct knowledge while actively reflecting upon the process of learning. Active learning’s focus on the student experience inside the classroom is an important complement to UGA’s experiential learning requirement, through which all undergraduates practice hands-on learning outside the classroom.
UGA has been increasing the use of active learning in recent years through classroom renovations and the Active Learning Summer Institute, which has helped nearly 80 faculty members redesign courses that enroll almost 40,000 students. The University will now expand on these efforts, dedicating $6 million over the next five years to instructor development programming that promotes active learning practices in the classroom, initiatives that support students as active learners, and additional classroom renovations that make learning spaces more flexible.
By addressing multiple facets of learning—faculty, students, and physical spaces—at the same time, the University of Georgia will weave together three distinct threads to create an exciting new standard in undergraduate education.