Abstract
Evidence-based teaching practices are associated with improved student academic performance. However, these practices encompass a wide range of activities and determining which type, intensity or duration of activity is effective at improving student exam performance has been elusive. To address this shortcoming, we used a previously validated classroom observation tool, Practical Observation Rubric to Assess Active Learning (PORTAAL) to measure the presence, intensity, and duration of evidence-based teaching practices in a retrospective study of upper and lower division biology courses. We determined the cognitive challenge of exams by categorizing all exam questions obtained from the courses using Bloom's Taxonomy of Cognitive Domains. We used structural equation modeling to correlate the PORTAAL practices with exam performance while controlling for cognitive challenge of exams, students' GPA at start of the term, and students' demographic factors. Small group activities, randomly calling on students or groups to answer questions, explaining alternative answers, and total time students were thinking, working with others or answering questions had positive correlations with exam performance. On exams at higher Bloom's levels, students explaining the reasoning underlying their answers, students working alone, and receiving positive feedback from the instructor also correlated with increased exam performance. Our study is the first to demonstrate a correlation between the intensity or duration of evidence-based PORTAAL practices and student exam performance while controlling for Bloom's level of exams, as well as looking more specifically at which practices correlate with performance on exams at low and high Bloom's levels. This level of detail will provide valuable insights for faculty as they prioritize changes to their teaching. As we found that multiple PORTAAL practices had a positive association with exam performance, it may be encouraging for instructors to realize that there are many ways to benefit students' learning by incorporating these evidence-based teaching practices.
Highlights
As we compared the Practical Observation Rubric to Assess Active Learning (PORTAAL) practices to the teaching practices categorized in the ICAP framework, we found a strong alignment of the majority of PORTAAL practices with the Interactive and Constructive levels of the ICAP
To calculate the predicted percentage point increases for each significant PORTAAL practice, we divided the standard deviation of the exam scores by the standard deviation of the PORTAAL practice and multiplied it by the path coefficient for that practice
Considerable evidence supports the claim that implementing active learning in undergraduate STEM classrooms improves student academic performance [1,2,3,4,5,6]
Summary
This research is a retrospective study of the teaching methods used by faculty at a major Research 1 university in the Northwest. This study examined 33 biology faculty and 10 different undergraduate biology courses at over a period of four academic years. At this university, large-enrollment classes are recorded using lecture capture technology installed in the classrooms and these recordings are archived. Faculty were not involved any formal professional development and were not trained in the use of PORTAAL practices. Faculty had varied levels of experience using active learning, but information about experience was not collected
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