Active learning uses student-centered strategies that engage students in solving problems, thinking and writing about what they are learning, and sharing their ideas with peers and instructors. As Bonwell and Eison (1991) puts it, "students must do more than just listen [to a lecture]: They must read, write, discuss, or be engaged in solving problems. Most important, to be actively involved, students must engage in such higher-order thinking tasks as analysis, synthesis, and evaluation."

Here are some useful resources for active learning strategies:

• Active Learning (Cornell University, CTI)
• What Does Active Learning Mean for Mathematicians? (Notices of the AMS, 2017)
• Inquiry-Oriented Linear Algebra (Virginia Tech)
• Inquiry-Oriented Differential Equations (North Carolina State University)
• MAA Instructional Practice Guide (2018)
• Actual Learning Versus Perception of Learning (PNAS, 2019)
• Some Active Learning Strategies
• When Small Changes Lead to Big Impact (Rasmussen and Johnson, Notices of the AMS, November 2023)

This article describes the transformation to active learning in the Department of Mathematics at Cornell University, as part of a university-wide effort called the Active Learning Initiative.

Links to pages of course materials are below. Materials for MATH 1106, 1110, 1300, and 3040 were developed as part of a 2017–20 Active Learning project and for MATH 2210 and 4310 as part of a 2020–23 project. The COVID pandemic and the resulting pivot to on-line teaching spurred the creation of similar new materials for 1120/1910 and 2130/1920. We archive them here for reuse. The development of MATH 4520 is led by Kathryn Mann as part of an NSF-funded project.

• 1106 – Modeling with Calculus for the Life Sciences
• 1110 – Calculus I
• 1120/1910 – Calculus II
• 2130/1920 – Calculus III
• 1300 – Mathematical Explorations
• 2210 – Linear Algebra
• 3040 – Prove It!
• 4310 – Linear Algebra
• 4520 – Classical Geometries and Modern Applications

Below are materials from several training workshops, which were aimed largely at TAs.

• Establishing Consistent Active Learning in a Calculus I Course, S. Bennoun &apm; T. Holm, PRIMUS, 2020
• Transforming a Calculus for Life Sciences Course: Moving From Procedural Calculus to Studying Dynamical Systems and Bifurcation Theory, S. Bennoun, PRIMUS, 2020
• Self-designed projects in a reconfigured large-enrollment linear algebra course, H. Keese and M. MacDonald, preprint, 2023
• Active learning taking root — a progress update, D. Freund, T. Holm, M. MacDonald, and T. Riley, preprint, 2023

This website is intended to be updated as more useful materials become available and older materials become out-of-date. When updating, be sure to use the CALM logo. The button below includes the logo as an image, as well as a TeX file and typesetting instructions.

There is a course page template listed among the course pages, which can be used when adding a new course to this website.