Investigating Active Learning through the Lens of Student Engagement

Abstract

Incorporating active learning into a course has been generally found to lead to improved student learning outcomes; however, not all students benefit from these environments to the same extent. Although active learning environments provide the opportunity for students to interact and engage with the material, whether a student decides to do so is completely up to them. Therefore, the goal of this dissertation was to begin exploring active learning environments through the lens of student engagement and relevant associated variables (i.e., self-efficacy and student perceptions). This was completed through three separate but related projects. Project I focused on investigating flipped courses at five different institutions, specifically in relation to students' interactions with and perceptions of pre-class materials (PCMs), as well as their self-efficacy. Students' interactions with and perceptions of required pre-class videos for each course were evaluated through student survey responses. A possible trend was found between the amount of peer-to-peer interaction included during the face-to-face (F2F) class time and how many videos students watched and when they watched them. Student responses also included feedback about what they found helpful and not helpful about the videos, such as being able to watch the videos at their own pace but also being unable to ask questions. An additional survey focused around students' self-efficacy was also administered to three of these institutions. The results showed that students' chemistry self-efficacy (CSE) tended to increase over the term. Comparisons of students' CSE at the end of the term between the different institutions indicated that there may be a relation between self-efficacy and the structure of the course. Project II centered around students' perceptions of active learning environments. A previously developed survey, the Assessing Student Engagement in Class Tool (ASPECT), did not function as expected in the active learning environments at Portland State University (PSU). Therefore, two modified ASPECT (mASPECT) versions were created to address these concerns, as well as to account for two different active learning environments: Deliberative Democracy (DD) activity days and clicker question days. Data collected with the mASPECT versions were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and cognitive student interviews. Data collected after a DD activity resulted in three factors of 'personal effort', 'value of environment', and 'classroom support', whereas data collected after a clicker question day resulted in three similar 'personal effort', 'value of environment', and 'classroom support' factors, in addition to a fourth 'social influence' factor. Although the factors