For most health and social care professionals learning is a mandatory part of the job. But our research tells us that the top reason for doing training at work is not ‘because I have to’.
In our survey of frontline care workers, broadening knowledge (65%) and increasing confidence (65%) were far bigger motivators for training than it being mandatory (50%).
Clearly, workers in the sector like to feel a sense of ownership and control over their own professional development – and that’s precisely what active learning is all about.
In this article, we’ll explore active learning by looking at:
- What active learning is (and how passive learning is different)
- The big benefit of active learning for health and care workers
- Active learning techniques to help you become a better carer
- How you can benefit from FuturU’s free immersive learning
What is active learning?
Active learning is when the learning process involves you doing more than just listening, reading, writing down, remembering and recalling material from a textbook or teacher.
With active learning, you engage with course material through activities that let you question, challenge, interrogate and analyse the content in more detail. These activities might include:
- brainstorming
- scenario-based role play
- analysing case studies
- solving problems, and
- group discussions.
Active vs. passive learning: what’s the difference?
Active learning focuses on you and your engagement with the material. Passive learning does the opposite: it puts all the focus on the teacher and their delivery of the content.
So, in a passive learning situation you might:
- listen to a lecture
- read from a textbook
- watch a demonstration or video, and
- take notes for later revision or testing.
In short, you learn by consuming material – not by getting actively involved with it.
Confidence: the big benefit of active learning for care professionals
A number of studies have shown that incorporating active involvement into the learning process can produce better results than using passive learning methods alone.
One US study found that even when students thought a passive environment had been more effective, tests revealed they had actually learned more in ‘active’ lectures.
For care professionals, learning through action builds confidence in their ability to use what they’ve learned when they’re faced with a new situation in real life.
Active learning strategies to make you a confident carer
With just 48% of nurses and care workers feeling ‘very confident’ that they have the right skills to do their job, it’s clear that ‘confidence’ should be a top outcome of any training.
Here are seven active learning techniques you can use to build up your confidence.
1. Look for immersive learning
Care work isn’t done on paper. It’s a hands-on job that asks trained professionals to apply their knowledge practically. Look for learning materials that mimic real-life situations so you come away feeling equipped to deal with a new scenario correctly, first time.
2. Learn with friends
Collaborative learning is one of the most effective active learning methods of all. Find a colleague or peer who’s studying for the same qualifications as you, and form a study group. Questioning and analysing the material together will help you learn from each other.
3. Observe a teammate
School field trips give students first-hand experience of the things they’re learning in class. How could you recreate this at work? One way might be to shadow a more experienced colleague who’s already highly-skilled at practising what you’ve just learned.
4. Ask for feedback
The reason group learning is so effective is that it encourages learners to debate, discuss, and test their understanding of a topic. In a similar way, getting constructive feedback on your application of a new skill can help you understand how well you’ve grasped it.
5. Take on new responsibilities
Why not go a step beyond shadowing a colleague and volunteer to assume some of their responsibilities? Even if it’s just temporary, taking on work a more experienced colleague would usually do is another great way to prove to yourself that you have what it takes.
6. Set learning goals
Taking control of your learning journey means setting and attaining goals, regularly. Developing skills on a consistent basis will sharpen your ability to understand what a realistic workload looks like, and build resilience to learning setbacks – crucial skills in care work.
7. Mentor a junior colleague
One of the best ways to learn a new idea is to teach it to someone else. This is known as the ‘protege effect’, and it works because it motivates you – as a learner – to study extra hard when you have responsibility for another person’s learning. So, find someone to teach.
Experience story-led learning with FuturU
When we surveyed nurses and care workers in 2023, 36% said a lack of interactive or practical elements in e-learning made it difficult to stay engaged, or understand how to apply the training in their job.
We designed FuturU to fix this. By embedding storytelling techniques into our material, FuturU learners enjoy more engaging and memorable training – and build better practical skills – than they would with most current e-learning methods.
Take one of our free online social care courses and experience the difference for yourself.
