Students in active classrooms scored higher on tests of learning than students in passive lectures (0.46 SD higher, P < 0.001)¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r3 · q3
Currency · newest study 2019 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? In a randomized crossover experiment, students in active classrooms scored almost half an SD (0.46) higher on multiple-choice tests of learning than students in passive lectures (P < 0.001). → Deslauriers L. 2019

Evidence¶

Deslauriers L. 2019¶

Deslauriers L., McCarty L. S., Miller K., Callaghan K., Kestin G. (2019). Measuring actual learning versus feeling of learning in response to being actively engaged in the classroom. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1821936116

q3 · i? · causal · r3

Fixed-effects regression (model 2) on pooled data from a randomized crossover experiment in two large-enrollment introductory physics courses with 149 individually randomized students. Active instruction raised test-of-learning performance, with students in active classrooms scoring "almost half an SD (0.46) higher on the examination" (P < 0.001); the article prints no standardized effect size for this finding.

"In this case, students in active classrooms scored almost half an SD (0.46) higher on the examination. These results are highly significant (P < 0.001)."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Active Learning Improves Exam Performance — the general claim this finding bears on, with the studies behind it
• Active Learning Lower Feeling Of Learning
• Perceived instructor fluency, not instruction type, predicted students' feeling of learning (0.51 SD, P < 0.001) — related
• Practice with feedback—either correct-answer or explanatory—produces better memory than lecture, in both multiple-choice and open-ended formats — related
• High school students taught with self-study followed by discussion achieved higher immediate retention and near-transfer scores than those taught with lecture followed by discussion — related
• Interviewed students described active classrooms as disjointed and frustrating and preferred the fluent passive lecture — related
• Wireless keypads with immediate-response questions convert a passive lecture audience into active learners by providing rapid feedback — related
• Interactive pedagogy increased nearly half a standard deviation for below-norm students in homogeneous double-dose algebra classes — related
• Classroom observations in an affluent district found most teachers did not use deeper-learning strategies, with students passively listening to lectures — related