Active processing is all about turning on students’ brains while learning — it’s contrasted with passive learning, rote learning or shallow memorization.
Students should understand the learning goal and be able to track their progress towards that goal. Here are a couple examples:
(quality.cr.k12.ia.us)
(mshouser.com)
They can even set their own goals in relation to the learning goals.
(mrsbunyi.com)
And make a plan to achieve their goals.
(kateandmaggie.com)
And here’s a great resource for assessing research skills. Turned on brains = smarter students!