06/12/2026
While circulating among small student groups, an instructor notices that some students appear unsure about how to proceed. Some groups reread the prompt and ask each other what they are supposed to do, while others wait quietly wait for direction.
There’s an element of improvisation to effective active learning: Even after carefully planning for how a class might unfold, instructors must decide, in the moment, how they will facilitate discussions, group work, and debriefs.
These are complex decisions that many faculty were never formally trained to make.
In Inspiring Minds, Megan Gahl of Minerva Project and Raquel H Ribeiro of Minerva University draw on years of teaching and faculty development work to introduce different levels of student-instructor control needed in effective active learning classrooms.
Read more: https://bit.ly/3PR1HTC
Active learning requires instructors to balance guidance and student autonomy. This article explores three facilitation roles educators can move between--observer, guide, and conductor--and shares practical examples for knowing when to pivot among them.