IMPLEMENTING ACTIVE LEARNING STRATEGIES TO PROMOTE STUDENTS’ ENGAGEMENT IN LARGE ENGLISH CLASSROOMS: A CASE STUDY OF RMUTT
Keywords:
Active Learning Activities, Assessments, Foundation English Course, Large English ClassesAbstract
In Thailand, the main problems normally occurring in English classroom are the large size of more than 50 students per class and passive learning of students. Thus, active learning, the essential skill in the 21st century, is rising in popularity and presence as an essential strategy in classrooms. The aims presented in this study are 1) to investigate the effectiveness of applying active learning methods in the English classrooms through pretest and posttest, and 2) to explore the degree of their satisfaction. The samples were 267 students who enrolled in the English basic course at Rajamangala University of Technology Thanyaburi (RMUTT). The active learning activities for an 8-week lesson plan applied in the course were various, including educational technology tools. The instruments were the 75-item, four choices multiple choice English learning achievement test used as pretest and posttest and the questionnaire of 20 items comprising six items of student self-assessment and 14 items for teacher assessment by students. Mean, standard deviation, and t-test were used for data analysis. The results of the study revealed that the posttest score was higher than the pretest score at .05 statistical level. The students’ self-assessment rating to the use of active learning activities and instructional arrangement showed high level of satisfaction ( = 4.16, S.D. = 0.75). The mean score for the students’ satisfaction to the teacher was at the high level (
= 4.20, S.D. = 0.73). The students’ performance on the pretest could stem from their unfamiliarity with active learning. However, after participating in active learning activities in large English classrooms, their English proficiency was improved, as shown by their better performance on the posttest.
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