It helps the teacher select objectives at the correct level of difficulty to meet the students' needs. The teacher encourages the students to be responsible for their own learning. Active learning brings the students into the organization, thinking, and problem solving process of the discipline. Active learning also gives the teacher time to perform the helping teacher functions of coach, listener, and advocate. For many teachers, giving up authority and control of the teaching situation challenges a model they have lived with throughout their academic careers.
College students have expectations of the role of teacher and their role as students.
Active learning challenges these expectations. There may be resistance to change and a sense that the expertise of the teacher is lost to the students. One technique which is low risk but highly effective is the modified lecture . The lecturer pauses at least three times during a fifty-minute lecture to allow discussion among students. Students think when they are asked to write or speak and when they work together.