Active University Teaching and Engaged Student Learning: A Mixed Methods Approach

Celeste A Wheat,Jessica C Wedgworth,Martha M Hocutt,Yan Sun

doi:10.14434/josotl.v18i4.22784

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to examine how learning space design and implementation of an active learning pedagogy based on the 5E Instructional Model influence university faculty’s teaching practices and students’ engagement. Faculty Fellows were recruited from a public, medium-sized university in the United States to teach courses, typically taught in a traditional classroom setting, in a new Active Learning Center (ALC) classroom. The classroom was funded by a Steelcase® Education Active Learning Center Grant that provided innovative and dynamic classroom furnishings and technology that allowed mobility and flexibility for both instructors and students. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected concurrently in this study. The quantitative analysis results indicated that the ALC learning experience significantly improved students’ class participation and cognitive attentiveness, but had no effect on improving their meaningful processing of new information. The qualitative analysis results, while providing new insights into the quantitative findings, revealed the faculty fellows’ changes and weaknesses in teaching practices and the mechanism of the ALC in supporting active learning. Implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed.

Highlights

Higher education scholars have argued that teaching pedagogies in higher education, which continue to use the traditional instructor-centered lecture model within static and inflexible classroom settings, presents a mismatch in preparing college students for a 21st-century, technology based society (Park & Choi, 2014)
There is an abundance of scholarly literature related to the application of active learning pedagogies within K/12 educational settings (Keengwe, 2015; Sullivan, 2015; Basye, Grant, Hausman, & Johnston, 2015), there is a dearth of empirical literature that focuses on the integration of active learning pedagogy and classroom space design in higher education
This research explored the effect of the Active Learning Center (ALC) experience on student engagement and the impact of the ALC teaching experience on Faculty Fellows’ teaching practices

Summary

Introduction

Higher education scholars have argued that teaching pedagogies in higher education, which continue to use the traditional instructor-centered lecture model within static and inflexible classroom settings, presents a mismatch in preparing college students for a 21st-century, technology based society (Park & Choi, 2014). This study adds to the small, but growing, research base regarding the impact of classroom design and pedagogy on student engagement, motivation, and learning and faculty teaching practices in a university setting. This research explored the effect of the Active Learning Center (ALC) (see Figure 1) experience on student engagement and the impact of the ALC teaching experience on Faculty Fellows’ teaching practices. Research questions addressed are: (a) Does learning experience in the ALC improve students’ learning engagement? Research questions addressed are: (a) Does learning experience in the ALC improve students’ learning engagement? (b) How does ALC experience make learning more engaging? and (c) How does ALC teaching experience change instructors’ teaching practices?

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion