Conduct second-generation active learning research using carefully constructed comparisons that isolate specific course features¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

Building on the review's taxonomy, the authors recommend that researchers "conduct second-generation research that analyzes which types of active learning and instructor behaviors are the most effective for student learning, especially in particular contexts." This includes "devising carefully constructed comparisons of active learning conditions" and investigating whether effect sizes correlate with specific features present in the active learning conditions and how those correlations change across course contexts.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Researchers need awareness of the variation in active learning courses and a taxonomy of interventions in use to make feature selection concrete.

Constraints¶

• The review found most existing studies differ on more than one feature and few include fidelity checks, so single-feature attribution requires newly designed comparisons.

Target Learners¶

• Undergraduate college students in science (biology, chemistry, physics) courses

Target Learning Goals¶

• Identifying which active learning course features and instructor behaviors most effectively promote student learning

Affordances¶

• Active Learning Course Design Taxonomy Martella

Related Strategies¶

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Martella, A. M., Lovett, M. C., & Ramsay, L. (2021). Implementing active learning: A critical examination of sources of variation in active learning college science courses. Journal on Excellence in College Teaching, 32(1), 67-96. https://jlect.com/