Why is active learning so important?

It dawned on me about two weeks into the first year that it was not teaching that was taking place in the classroom, but learning. . ---Pop star Sting, reflecting upon his early career as a teacher NSF 96-139, Shaping the Future: New Expectations for Undergraduate Education in Science, Mathematics, Engineering and Technology

We cannot do our students' learning for them, and cognitive science research over several decades has demonstrated that:

• Exposure does not equal learning.
• People learn when they are actively engaged in building knowledge and when they apply what they know to problem-solving.

• What we do in the classroom matters. If we care about student learning, we need to create environments in the classroom that promote student learning.
• The key is to actively engage students. Student-centered teaching methods, such as those in these On-Ramps, are well documented to be effective in improving student learning.

As you enter a classroom, ask yourself this question: "If there were no students in the classroom, could I do what I am planning to do?" If the answer to the question is yes, don't do it. ---General Ruben Cubero, Dean of the Faculty United States Air Force Academy; Novak et al., 1999, Just-in-Time Teaching

Why On-Ramps in Tectonics?

• In 2018, the tectonics community presented a vision document to the National Science Foundation on the challenges and opportunities for research in tectonics. In the section on achieving the vision, the document points toward the need to recruit and educate a diverse and rigorously trained work force.
• The vision document recommends facilitating practical implementation of best practices in geoscience education and suggests development of a tectonics educator's onramp.
• Our project owes its inspiration to this report and to a request from lead authors Kate Huntington and Keith Klepeis to spearhead the first phase of development.