Linking theory to practice: Active learning in mass lecture and tutorial

This article introduces an inquiry of a practitioner in her attempt to put a new delivery mode of “mass lecture and tutorial” into practice on a core module entitled “Approaches to Teaching and Learning” in a teacher education programme. As an action learner, the author theorized her action by linking active learning to the practice which stresses connections and integration, engaging activities, contextualized experience, assessment oriented learning, feedback and recognition of student learning outputs. The incorporation of the theme of “active learning” into the new mode suggested a dynamic relationship of the mass lecture, tutorial classes and assessment of the module, which was realized in the curriculum organization of the module. The article examines the curriculum design and the learning and teaching activities introduced in the module on trial of the mass lecture and tutorial delivery mode, which provides a reference case for teachers of higher education nowadays in their attempt to embark on new teaching methods. Copyright © 2007 The Hong Kong Institute of Education.