Assisted discovery-based learning for literature studies

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article evaluates the effect of discovery-based learning (DBL) in an undergraduate course in literature. The DBL method asked students in an introductory course on the Bible to discover facts about authorship and genres of various books through guided reading, followed by expository comments. The control method, in contrast, directly presented students with the expository comments. We show that students retained the target facts better in the short term with the DBL method than with the control method. Statistical analysis suggests that DBL plays a more decisive role in determining this outcome than the student’s general academic competence or background. The gain with DBL is more significant for students who successfully discovered the target facts during treatment. According to a survey, twice as many students preferred DBL than the expository approach.