Active learning has received considerable attention over the years in higher education in Japan.Active learning is often presented as a radical change from traditional instruction where students passively receive information from the instructor.It has attracted educators looking for an effective instructional method that engages students in the learning process to nurture thinking skill,communication skill and attitude adding to the knowledge acquisition as learning outcomes.In Japan,the Central Education Council mentions in 2012,that active learning should be promoted to improve the quality of education of higher education.Universities in Japan accreted active learning by developing learning environments such as learning commons and established a center was supporting active learning under financial support for improvement in the learning environments by MEXT.It is,however,unclear how it differs from traditional instruction since this is already active through homework assignment and group works.Adding to the confusion,educators do not always understand how to assess active learning differ from the traditional instruction.This pepper addresses these issues.First,it defines active learning and distinguishes the different types of active learning.Second,the author introduces two case studies of project based learning as one of active learning conducted at Meiji University 2004 and 2005.The author will discuss in the conference how to assess students' learning by the qualitative data collected during the practice and what theoretical framework is the most acceptable for its assessment.Finally,the study provides an overview of assessment for active learning from the educational literature.