Active Learning Versus the Traditional Lecture Methods of Teaching at Higher Education Institutions: A Case Study of Learners’ Preferences at the Department of Business Education, Addis Ababa University

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to assess learners’ preferences of the active learning versus the traditional lecture methods of teaching at Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). The method most commonly utilized, the level of the learners’ satisfaction about the methods and the reasons for the identified level were also deliberated on. In doing so, a detailed questionnaire was dispatched to a purposively selected 45 third year students at the Department of Business Education, Addis Ababa University (AAU) who were taking the course General Methods of Teaching with the researcher during the first semester of the year 2003/04. The results of the quantitative and qualitative analyses of the data disclosed that many of the teachers at the Department were most commonly using lecture method of teaching and yet, the learners preferred the active learning to the traditional lecture method of teaching. The lecture method is found to be less effective in stimulating interest, promoting creativity, or helping students develop responsibility, imagination, and skills in synthesizing, internalizing, or self-expressions. It is, therefore, recommended that teachers at the Department of Business Education in particular and those at different departments in the University in general should be able to consider learners’ preferences in deciding the method to deliver their lessons.