Active Learning Precursors in Multidisciplinary Large Lectures: A Longitudinal Trial on the Effect of Imagery in Higher Education Lectures

Abstract

College and university teaching involves almost universally and hegemonically the large group lecture format. This ubiquitous learning and teaching space has, however, long been criticized for the production of passive learning in which the “sage on the stage” transmits, and students receive passively. This article reports on and evaluates a longitudinal multidisciplinary controlled experiment in which students were exposed to imagery and non-redundant text-narrative to assess the presence or absence of active learning principles. The trial found that students exposed to MML experienced 40–80% greater levels of active learning practices over those exposed to narrative and text. Given the physiological (cognitive) nature of MML predictions, the implications of the research impact upon all disciplines where lectures are a means of knowledge-sharing practices in Higher Education.