By Tine Hoof, Tim Surma, Paul A. Kirschner & Mirjam Neelen

This blog provides an overview of a series of eight blogs on productive learning strategies, originally written by Tine Hoof, Tim Surma & Paul Kirschner, and published onexcel.thomasmore.be.

A new term has recently been circulating within the ExCEL (Expertise Centre Effective Learning) team. In Dutch, it’s called ‘werkvormisme’, which can probably be best translated as ‘instructional methodism’. The term refers to the emphasis on one or more specific instructional methods, without carefully considering if the method, in itself, would lead to better learning. One example is the idea that people learn more through ‘active’ instructional methods, such as group or project work, compared to so-called ‘passive’ instructional methods, such as reading, listening, and completing individual assignments.

We hope you’re not too shocked when we say that ‘active’ methods aren’t necessarily more effective than ‘passive’ methods and vice…