Learning Activities In Courses Research Articles

Listening to students: Beliefs and attitudes about active learning and effective lecture-style courses

Research shows that active-learning methods (e.g. discussion) are often superior to passive methods (e.g. lecture) with respect to learning outcomes. However, students sometimes report preferring and learning more in lecture-style classes compared to those in which they play an active role. These and related findings suggest students may lack awareness about the relative effectiveness of passive versus active teaching methods on their own learning. Here, we used a mixed methods approach to assess college students’ beliefs, attitudes, and feelings about lecture-style courses ( n = 246). One primary goal was to assess if, and to what extent, students would express an unprompted desire for interaction in lecture-style classes when reflecting, in an open-ended format, upon their real-world educational experiences. Respondents reported that the majority of their classes were lecture style, in accordance with previous research, and noted that they view lecture as a mostly effective form of pedagogy. While respondents described high-level knowledge and compelling delivery of the subject matter, effective class design and use of technology, and good stagecraft on behalf of the instructor as important aspects of effective lecture-style teaching, a substantial proportion of students mentioned interaction as the most important component of an effective lecture style class, suggesting that student preferences for passive classrooms is far from universal. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Creation of a motivational interviewing-based pharmacy communications course: From dissemination to assessment

Background and purposePharmacists are frequently faced with evocative patient care conversations surrounding medication taking behaviors and overall health and wellness. Teaching communication is a core focus within pharmacy education; however, there is often less emphasis placed on learning motivational interviewing (MI). We will share challenges and successes associated with the creation and dissemination of a MI-based communications course with pharmacy student learners. Educational activity and settingA fast-paced, five-week, active learning course was created for first-year pharmacy students. Learning activities focused on exploration of ambivalence in clinical practice, roadblocks to active listening, resisting the righting reflex, the spirit of MI, and the core skills of MI. The Motivational Interviewing Competency Assessment was utilized to assess student MI competency at the completion of the course. FindingsThis MI-based course has been well-received by pharmacy student learners. It serves as a foundation for communication skills development, as students continue the practice and grow these skills throughout the curriculum. Communication skills assessment and feedback are an integral aspect of MI learning; however, this process does increase the workload of course instructors. A limitation to the global creation of a MI-based course is the reduced number of pharmacy educators who are proficient in training MI. SummaryAs the practice of pharmacy and patient care continues to evolve, effective communication skills that include MI, are essential to the provision of person-centered, empathic patient care.

DJ Prof: Reflections on teaching

In a short-lived career as a cartoonist for Acoustics Today [Summer 2016], I sketched DJ Prof, an acoustics professor who mixes multiple modes of instruction to engage and excite students. DJ Prof illustrates the concept of active learning, which Freeman et al. called the “preferred empirically validated teaching practice” [PNAS, 2014]. Numerous studies show that active learning courses improve student learning, increase retention rates, and reduce performance gaps in STEM for economically disadvantaged students and females in male-dominated classes. This lecture reflects on my evolution as DJ Prof using examples from acoustic signal processing courses. I will review the literature on active learning, share a few favorites from my pedagogical playlist, and highlight open questions for the acoustics education community. The session will include interactive exercises. Please bring an open mind, a sense of humor, and a willingness to meet the people sitting near you.

Student attitudes and achievement in active learning calculus

The present paper explores the relationship between attitudes towards mathematics (ATM) and achievement in college calculus in active learning (AL) and lecture-based (LB) classrooms. Previous work on this relationship has mainly been limited to LB instruction, neglecting the impact of innovative approaches such as AL. Less attention has been paid to the roles played in this relationship by gender, year in college, and initial ATM. Results from a sample of 535 undergraduate students enrolled in 9 AL and 9 LB sections are presented. Data included ATMI surveys’ responses, final grades, and demographics. Correlation and multiple regression analyses were conducted. The influence of instruction on students with low ATM was also examined. Gender and year in college were the main demographic variables considered. Achievement in AL was found to be less dependent on initial ATM in terms of correlation. AL showed higher gains in grades than LB, when controlling for ATM and demographic variables. Effect sizes of AL instruction on grades of students with low ATM were larger than those of students with higher ATM. Furthermore, AL courses had a large effect size (d = 0.81) on female students with lower ATM, confirming its role as a gender equalizer.

HyFlex environment: addressing students' basic psychological needs.

Active learning strategies engage students and promote student-centered learning environments. Implementing active learning in a HyFlex environment during the Fall of 2020 global pandemic was challenging. We describe the Interactive Synchronous HyFlex approach to teaching design thinking at the introductory college level and explore impacts on students’ basic psychological needs, including autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Aligned with Self-Determination Theory, active learning has been shown to motivate students and increase performance and retention in science, engineering, and mathematics disciplines, among others (Freeman et al., 2014; Lo & Hew, 2019). In active environments, the predominant mode of instruction is not lecture based and it engages students through student–to–student interactions and student–to–instructor interactions. The flipped classroom is a pedagogical model in which the typical lecture and homework elements of a course are reversed. This model of instruction is ideal for our design thinking course used as a context for this study because students are challenged to learn by doing. In active learning courses, students engage in video-recorded lectures or talks, text-based materials and online quizzes, or other preparation activities before and in preparation for class (Bishop & Verleger, 2013; Lo et al., 2017; O’Flaherty & Phillips, 2015). Scheduled class meeting time is used for engagement and interaction between students informed by a social constructivist learning theory. Students challenge each other to apply what they have learned with guidance and support from the instructor.

Students’ expert-like attitudes in calculus and introductory computer science courses with active-learning pedagogy

ABSTRACT Background and Context Computer Science has traditionally had poor student retention, especially among women. Prior work has found that student attitudes are a key factor to retention, especially with “weedout” courses such as Calculus. Objective To determine how student attitudes towards CS 1 and Calculus change over active-learning courses with explicit real-world connections, and the implications for at-risk groups in CS, including women and students without prior experience in CS. Methods We use two validated instruments, the Computer Attitudes Survey (CAS) and the Mathematics Attitudes and Perceptions Survey (MAPS), both of which derive from the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey (CLASS), to compare student attitudes in Calculus I and CS 1. Our analysis includes 109 students for the CAS and 73 for the MAPS. Findings CS 1 students began the course with CAS scores higher than observed in prior work, and post-course CAS scores were even higher overall. Calculus students started the course with MAPS scores in line with prior work, but unlike prior work we find that overall MAPS scores did not decline during the semester. Women’s reported interest in math increased significantly during the semester. Students with prior computer science experience began CS 1 with higher overall CAS scores, while students with prior calculus experience began Calculus with similar overall MAPS scores but much higher reported interest. Implications Difference in student attitudes between the courses may show why Calculus acts a “weedout” course for Computer Science. This highlights the importance of instructors demonstrating the usefulness of Calculus.

DJ Prof: Reflections on teaching

In a short-lived career as a cartoonist for Acoustics Today [Summer 2016], I sketched DJ Prof, an acoustics professor who mixes multiple modes of instruction to engage and excite students. DJ Prof illustrates the concept of active learning, which Freeman et al. called the “preferred empirically validated teaching practice” [PNAS, 2014]. Numerous studies show that active learning courses improve student learning, increase retention rates, and reduce performance gaps in STEM for economically disadvantaged students and females in male-dominated classes. This lecture reflects on my evolution as DJ Prof using examples from acoustic signal processing courses. I will provide a brief overview of the literature on active learning, share a few favorites from my pedagogical playlist, and highlight open questions for the acoustics education community. The session will include interactive exercises. Please bring an open mind, a sense of humor, and a willingness to meet the people sitting near you.

Reducing Chemistry Casualties: Supporting Women Enrolled in General Chemistry I not During their First Term of College with Active Learning

Active learning is known to improve student outcomes in many STEM courses. Here, we present strategies for incorporating active learning into a large enrollment General Chemistry I course using small group activities during class time. This approach was found to mitigate gender disparities in overall course grades and reduced the number of General Chemistry I students earning a D or F grade or withdrawing from the course (chemistry casualties) by 7%. Uniquely, this study examined which groups of students benefited from active learning based on how long they had been enrolled at the institution. Our results indicate that both male- and female-identifying students performed better in the active learning course, with experienced (i.e., non first-year) female-identifying students experiencing the greatest benefit in the new format. These results add to the existing literature in support of active learning implementation in introductory STEM courses, like General Chemistry I.

Refining active learning design principles through design-based research

This design-based research (DBR) study had both local and general goals. Its local goal was to increase active learning in the online courses offered at a large research university in the midwestern United States. Its larger goal was to define active learning design principles for online courses in general, so that they might be used to improve the learning experience for wider audiences. While the principles of active learning can be applied to courses in any mode of delivery: flipped classroom, blended, or fully online, the importance of active learning in online courses is highlighted because active learning course design requires numerous upfront considerations. Moreover, because the pedagogical model is structured throughout the online learning environment and thus is made visible, online courses present a unique opportunity to review what is core to the principles of active learning. The design intervention (an innovative course review method) incorporated the principles of authentic e-learning. The study addressed two major research questions: (1) “To what extent does the intervention—a new course review method—indicate the extent to which active learning is present in the design of an online course?” and (2) “How do the principles of authentic e-learning incorporated in the new course review method need to be refined?” To address the first question, the online course review intervention was used to evaluate the learning activities and assessments of 75 undergraduate online courses against these authentic e-learning principles, resulting in an active learning (AL) score for each course. To address the second question, we surveyed the learners in these 75 courses about what made learning meaningful and coded the learners’ feedback in reference to the active learning design principles. The practical outcome of this DBR study is a pedagogical course review that quantifies active learning in online courses. The theoretical outcomes of this DBR study are refined active learning design principles that can serve instructors, designers, teacher educators, and administrators in enhancing the design of online courses. The findings of this study affirm that the authentic task principles as well as newly identified learner-centered design principles together can serve as evidence-based principles to define and refine active learning in online courses.

The Promoting Active Learning & Mentoring (PALM) Research Coordination Network Supports the Design and Implementation of Active Learning Strategies, while Increasing Educator Confidence

The Promoting Active Learning & Mentoring (PALM) Research Coordination Network supports current and aspiring biological science educators (PALM Fellows) who seek to incorporate active learning strategies into their undergraduate courses. Through the collaboration of professional scientific societies and educators, PALM Fellows are provided one‐on‐one guidance by PALM Mentors, educators experienced in curricular reform. This 4–12‐month mentorship includes PALM Fellows observing, either virtually or in‐person, PALM Mentors applying active learning strategies in their own classrooms. PALM Fellows work with their PALM Mentors to design, implement, and assess active learning course modules adapted to the needs of the PALM Fellows and their students. Additional mentorship and professional network development are provided to PALM Fellows in the form of regular journal club meetings and group gatherings with other current and former PALM Fellows and Mentors. Over five years, 54 PALM Fellows have received individualized mentoring and assistance in the development and implementation of active learning strategies. At the completion of one year as a PALM Fellow, participants (n=17) were surveyed to determine changes in their teaching approaches that can be attributed to the PALM Network. When asked to rate their confidence since starting their work with the PALM Network, 82% responded that they have more confidence (as indicated by the response of a 7 or 6 on a 7‐point Likert scale) in their understanding of active learning, 88% have more confidence in their ability to incorporate active learning in their teaching, and 71% have more confidence in their understanding of backward design. Additionally, after one year in the PALM Network, all participants (given the option of yes, no, or not sure) responded that they had developed an active learning course module, and 82% had implemented their active learning module in their own classroom. Therefore, the PALM Network successfully supports the design and implementation of active learning strategies in the classrooms of educators seeking to reform their teaching, as well as increasing educator confidence in their ability to do this work.

Flipped Pre-Calculus for Engineers: An Active Learning Course Transformation

ABSTRACT As part of a departmental reform project, a large University converted a “Precalculus College Mathematics” lecture-based course for 97 students into an active learning flipped classroom for first-year engineering students. The curriculum was designed specifically to provide applications of pre-calculus in various engineering subjects. This paper outlines the course evolution, design features, ongoing adjustments made to the course, and quantitative data from the common examination and course evaluations to support the instructional design. The paper concludes with a reflection on which aspects of the learning environment helped facilitate successful learning and guidance for future implementations of a large-scale flipped undergraduate mathematics classroom.

Report on the online course "Basic Concepts in Neurophysiology": a course promoted during the COVID-19 pandemic quarantine.

"Basic Concepts in Neurophysiology" was a 3-wk online course developed during six synchronous meetings combined with asynchronous activities. We proposed an active learning course that used free online platforms to teach physiology during a period in which undergraduates were not in classrooms or taking online classes due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Herein, we report the course organization and the students' involvement in, acceptance of, and evaluation of the course. To address the students' perceptions about these points, we sent a questionnaire to 49 participants who finished the course. We found that although most students (52.5%) had never taken a course with similar methods before, almost all of them (95%) liked the flipped class model. Additionally, a majority of the students (92.5%) said that the method increased their study frequency during the social distancing period, which is an important aspect to consider during this challenging time for both students and professors.

Adapting Statistics Education to a Cognitively Heterogeneous Student Population

Historically, the introductory course in statistics at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), has taken a traditional, lecture-based form. A previous study at the NMBU concluded that the course structure appeared to disfavor certain cognitive or personality types, extraverts in particular. Therefore, in 2016, as an experiment, the course was restructured into a student active learning course following a flipped classroom approach. At the same time, students were encouraged to do an online screening test for cognitive preferences, personality, work interest, and preferred learning style. The main outcome in the present study was exam scores. Despite the new course structure, we still found significant differences in exam scores between students with a contextual preference, compared with a digital preference, and those with a feeling-based rather than a thinking-based personality characteristic. However, in contrast to the previous study, no significant difference in exam scores was found between the extraverts and the introverts, also after adjusting for other covariates. In the present article, we outline these results and other findings that indicate that additional adaptations should be made in the course, in order to reach an even wider group of the heterogeneous student mass, helping individuals to better reach their learning potential.

Transition of a Collaborative In-Person Health Care Innovation Course to Online Learning.

As COVID-19 forced in-person courses to transition online, an active learning course focused on design thinking in health and health care embraced the challenge. Lessons learned, mistakes made, and thoughts on the future of online education in nursing are discussed. During the online transition, it was thought the flipped-classroom approach would transition well using the same design thinking methodology taught in the course. Because the course promoted rapid innovation and iteration, such a challenge served as a call to action, and the course became a valuable real-time case study. Based on student surveys, the overall quality of the transitioned course increased slightly compared with the previous semester's in-person course, indicating schools of nursing can innovate both the way students are taught as well as what students are taught. Rather than mourn the loss of in-person learning, the newfound possibilities of virtual education should celebrated. [J Nurs Educ. 2021;60(5):298-300.].

Predict-observe-explain activities preserve introductory geology students’ self-efficacy

To support student construction of knowledge during class meetings, there is a growing demand to incorporate active learning practices. However, ’active learning’ can range from occasionally voting on a multiple-choice question, to spending all of class time on worksheets. Consequently, the outcomes of active learning course reforms vary widely. Here we present an exploratory study comparing student outcomes from two introductory geology courses that both use active learning practices. In one course, students regularly respond to ‘Clicker’ questions with no peer interaction, using a personal response system. In the other course, students engage in Clicker questions as well as collaborative predict-observe-explain (POE) activities. Our results showed no statistically significant difference in content knowledge gains between these two courses POE activities. However, we find that students who experienced both Clickers and POE activities have enhanced self-efficacy and interest in the subject. As self-efficacy and science interest are integral for retention in STEM beyond first-year courses, we argue that some active learning strategies, such as POE, may be better suited to recruiting and retaining STEM majors. Thus we highlight the need for more studies that compare active learning strategies while monitoring student feelings and perceptions in addition to content knowledge.

Education as a Strategy for Active Aging Learning Center in Taiwan

The population of individuals who are over 65 years-old in Taiwan has grown from less than 10% in 2008 to 14% in 2018. Since 2008, Taiwan has officially been an aging nation as defined by the World Health Organization. With the current rate of growth, we expect the country to become a super-aged society with 20% of the population being older than 65 years of age in 2025. The challenge Taiwan currently faces in bracing for a rapidly aging society is more difficult than ever. In response to a rapidly aging population, universities have been cooperating with the government since 2008 in promoting a community-based lifelong learning-oriented "active aging" education policy, of which we collectively call "Senior Learning" (“Le-Ling Learning” in Mandarin, meaning “Active Aging Learning”). 12 years into implementing the program, 369 senior learning centers have been established in Taiwan by 2020. These established centers with their extensions can be found throughout Taiwan, including 360 towns and cities as well as 3,175 villages. These centers, supported by local resources (e.g. schools, and non-governmental organizations), provide senior learning courses and activities. There are thousands of community volunteers participating every year, as well as over 200,000 hours of Active Aging Learning course duration prepared by the government; moreover, there are currently 200 instructors trained for teaching these programs. Active Aging Learning program has truly become a “zeitgeist” in Taiwan in response to the elderly society. In caring for the elderly, meaningful educational learning has become the best strategy as reflected by the public.
 The purpose of this article is to report on the developmental background, promotion model, effectiveness of, and the prospects of Active Aging Learning in Taiwan. The contents of this article include: (1) the conceptual basis of Active Aging Learning, (2) the practice mode and strategy of Active Aging Learning, (3) the implementation effect of Active Aging Learning, and (4) the future progress of Active Aging Learning. The research data in this article originate from policy documents, both qualitative and quantitative data for the implementation of the Active Aging Learning program, as well as my 12 years of practical observations and experience as the overall project principal investigator. Through reading this article, the readers can quickly understand the implementation process, effectiveness, and problems of senior learning in Taiwan, as well as the key findings of our 12 years of experience. We found that the best strategy for an aging society is not to emphasize "care" in the context of traditional pathology, but to learn in order to "prevent". Educational strategies and talent cultivation are the broad directions of our active efforts.

The development of online role-play for pharmacological education

The role-play for pharmacological education has been developed by Yanagita et al. since 2010 and incorporated into the curriculum of more than 20 medical or pharmaceutical universities in Japan. This case and communication based active learning course provides the practice to acqire fundamental competences for drug therapy, through role playing of medical professionals and patients in simulated clinical settings. The online pharmacological role-play for the first time was performed at Tohoku Medical and Pharmaceutical University Faculty of Medicine during the state of emergency in Japan. We found that the online role-play was as useful as face-to-face role-plays to train appropriate drug prescriptions and communication skills in medical students. In this review, we described the course design, preparation, and operation of online role-play for pharmacological education. We also explained the differences, advantages, and disadvantages between online and face-to-face setting. Finally, we gave examples on-going challenges to the effective use of the online role-play as a core curricular model of pharmacological and pharmacotherapeutic education.

온라인 학습카페 활용 수업에 대한 학생평가 및 학습활동 유형 분석 - S대학교 WIU 강좌 사례를 중심으로

최근 교육환경의 변화 등으로 다양한 형태의 온라인 기반 학습이 이루어지고 있다. 본 연구는 포털사이트 기반 학습카페를 활용한 수업에 대한 학생평가 및 구체적인 학습활동 유형 분석을 통해 온라인 기반 수업의 개선방안을 탐색하고자 한다. 이를 위해 2019년 S대학교에서 운영된 65개 온라인 학습카페 활용 강좌를 대상으로 수업효과에 대한 학생평가 설문을 실시하였다. 더불어 수업별 운영된 학습활동을 학습형태, 활동수준, 상호작용 방식을 중심으로 유형화하여 분석하였다. 분석 결과, 학생들의 수업에 대한 만족도는 3.73점으로 나타났고, 인지적 차원의 수업효과에 대한 인식이 3.84점으로 가장 높게 나타났다. 한편, 학습활동의 유형은 개인기반/기억 및 이해 수준의 활동/간접적 상호작용 방식이 38.46%로 가장 높은 비율을 보였고, 개인기반/적용 및 분석 수준의 활동/간접적 상호작용 방식이 26.15%로 높게 나타났다. 이는 수업에서 온라인 학습카페가 ‘개인의 학습활동 결과를 공유하는 장’으로 주로 활용되고 있음을 의미한다. 이러한 분석결과를 토대로 보다 나은 수업효과를 위한 온라인 학습카페 활용을 위한 논의점을 제시하였다.

A Comparison of Student Engagement in Flipped, Active Lecture, and Online Counseling Courses

ABSTRACT A variety of teaching approaches have recently grown in popularity in counselor education, including flipped learning and online learning, yet no researchers have published comparisons of these course formats to traditional or active learning course formats in counselor education. In this study, we compared student course engagement in flipped, active lecture, and online course sections for same lifespan development counseling course. Flipped (n = 24) and active lecture (n = 44) participants reported statistically significantly higher engagement than online participants (n = 21). Flipped participants also reported non-significantly higher engagement than active lecture and online participants. These findings both support and contrast with previous research in other disciplines.

Western University Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry.

Western University Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry.