Active Learning in the Social Studies Classroom

Many educators can agree that they are looking for new ways to keep their students engaged in this day in age. Research shows that active learning increases student engagement, which eventually leads to improved academic performance (Mulhearn, et al., 2023). Whether it is through group work, simulations, or any other active learning strategies, when students are exposed to movement, they perform better in the classroom. Popular findings from research included students enjoying the active learning and movements in the lesson (Mulhearn, et al., 2023). This self-study was conducted to see whether or not these theories can be applied to a high school social studies classroom. I conducted this study on freshman and sophomore students in classes of roughly 20-25 students. Lesson plans, student anecdotal records, and reflections were gathered and used to analyze the data. Findings in this study were consistent with various scholars and other researchers who said movement integration and active learning in the classroom leads to higher engagement levels and higher academic achievement. In addition, this study demonstrated that movement integration is not exclusive to elementary level students. More research is needed in the field of movement integration and active learning, but the surface level findings indicate that student performance in the classroom improves.