Hello everyone. In an effort to help academia in general, I created this Student Centered Active Learning Spectrum infographic. I am making it freely available so that hopefully it helps us all move away from using a pure lecture class format and instead use more active hands-on learning instructional methodologies.
Benefits of using Active Learning Instructional Techniques
The following benefits of active learning instruction have been identified through numerous research studies in both STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) – including newer fields such as Data Science/AI, and humanities subjects (Freeman et al., 2014; Intel, 2021; Kovarik et al., 2022; Michael, 2006; Prince, 2004; Rosario, 2021; Rosenthal & Chung, 2020):
• high student engagement • helps students better master difficult subjects
• high student motivation and enjoyment • highly evidenced-based instructional technique
• better grasp of topic theory and application • increases student class attendance
• general enhancement in communication & leadership (21st century) skills • better recall of information learned
• an enhanced educational experience by both students and instructors • greater diversity/inclusion
More Info:
For more information on this extremely important subject, watch the video below I made with Assessment Coordinator and education subject matter expert, Syuzanna Sahakyan, M.A., titled Q&A: Avoid a Pure Lecture Class Format:
What are your thoughts? Add to the conversation regarding avoiding pure lecture class formats and using more active learning instructional techniques. Add a comment below.
References:
Freeman, S., Eddy, S.L., McDonough, M., Smith, M.K., Okoroafor, N., Jordt, H., and Wenderoth, M.P. (2014). Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 111, 8410-8415.
Intel. (2021). Active learning fosters technical and innovative learning. Intel Technologies. https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/education/teaching-strategy/active-learning.html
Kovarik, M. L., Robinson, J. K., & Wenzel, T. J. (2022). Why use active learning?. In Active Learning in the Analytical Chemistry Curriculum (pp. 1-12). American Chemical Society.
Michael, J. (2006). Where’s the evidence that active learning works? Advances in physiology education, 30 (159 –167).
Prince, M. (2004). Does active learning work? A review of the research. Journal of Engineering Education 93(3), 223-231.
Rosario, Z. (2021). An open-source active learning curriculum for data science in engineering. The Journal of Open Source Education. 14(46), 117. https://raw.githubusercontent.com/openjournals/jose-papers/jose.00117/jose.00117/10.21105.jose.00117.pdf
Rosenthal, S., & Chung, T. (2020). A data science major: Building skills and confidence. SIGCSE ’20.