Leading the Pack: UGA's Active Learning Model Inspires Other Universities

From student engagement to AI integration, active learning is redefining classroom success.

Active learning works. That’s what Marisa Pagnattaro, VP for Instruction and Senior Vice Provost for Academic Planning, said of UGA’s Active Learning Initiative. Launched three years ago, it’s changing the way faculty present material and how students absorb it.

“The faculty are really creating an environment where students feel like it makes a difference to go to class because they’re doing things that are hands-on,” said Pagnattaro. “It helps them connect what they’re doing and why that’s important for the discipline. Teaching evaluations are boosted, too, because students want to go to class.”

Student seated a desk with a book open talking to another student at a desk

The faculty are really creating an environment where students feel like it makes a difference to go to class because they're doing things that are hands-on.
Marisa Pagnattaro, VP for Instruction and Senior Vice Provost for Academic Planning

Active learning encourages students to participate and engage and lets them see the relevance of what they’re learning. Instead of solely learning the material for a test, students gain a deeper understanding of the material which they can carry with them into their careers. It’s a skill for lifelong learning, which helps shape students’ futures.

The popularity and success of the Active Learning Initiative has drawn national attention. In February 2025, the University of Georgia hosted its third annual Active Learning Summit in Athens. Faculty from universities around the country came to hear about the effectiveness of active learning and discover how to incorporate it into their own curriculum.

At the recent summit, sessions addressed how active learning and AI are complementary, and how these tools can apply to the humanities or liberal arts courses. Across campus, UGA conducts workshops and engages with faculty from English to Art History to New Media to establish active learning and AI as critical thinking components.

For example, students in a course called Thematic Inquiry in Contemporary Art used AI to transform hand-drawn sketches of imagined species mutations into 3D models. Informed by local ecosystems and ethical inquiry, the learning framework offers a unique opportunity to use generative AI. Students actively working with AI in their assignments across disciplines provides them with learning tools that enable critical thinking skills.

“We’re thinking about how faculty can use AI in a really positive way as an active learning teaching supplement integrated across disciplines,” said Pagnattaro. “That will become a fundamental part of what we’re doing at UGA.”