scholarly journals Redesigning a course to help students achieve higher-order cognitive thinking skills: from goals and mechanics to student outcomes

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 194-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet Casagrand ◽  
Katharine Semsar
Keyword(s):  
Active Learning ◽  
Student Performance ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Student Outcomes ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Skill Levels ◽  
Student Centered ◽  
Traditional Lecture ◽  
Course Materials ◽  
Learning Assessments

Here we describe a 4-yr course reform and its outcomes. The upper-division neurophysiology course gradually transformed from a traditional lecture in 2004 to a more student-centered course in 2008, through the addition of evidence-based active learning practices, such as deliberate problem-solving practice on homework and peer learning structures, both inside and outside of class. Due to the incremental nature of the reforms and absence of pre-reform learning assessments, we needed a way to retrospectively assess the effectiveness of our efforts. To do this, we first looked at performance on 12 conserved exam questions. Students performed significantly higher post-reform on questions requiring lower-level cognitive skills and those requiring higher-level cognitive skills. Furthermore, student performance on conserved questions was higher post-reform in both the top and bottom quartiles of students, although lower-quartile student performance did not improve until after the first exam. To examine student learning more broadly, we also used Bloom’s taxonomy to quantify a significant increase in the Bloom’s level of exams, with students performing equally well post-reform on exams that had over twice as many questions at higher cognitive skill levels. Finally, we believe that four factors provided critical contributions to the success of the course reform, including: transformation efforts across multiple course components, alignment between formative and evaluative course materials, student buy-in to course instruction, and instructional support. This reform demonstrates both the effectiveness of incorporating student-centered, active learning into our course, and the utility of using Bloom’s level as a metric to assess course reform.

scholarly journals Does the Room Matter? Active Learning in Traditional and Enhanced Lecture Spaces

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. ar68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon R. Stoltzfus ◽  
Julie Libarkin
Keyword(s):  
Active Learning ◽  
Student Performance ◽  
Student Perceptions ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Lecture Hall ◽  
Student Centered ◽  
Traditional Lecture ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Based Instruction

SCALE-UP–type classrooms, originating with the Student-Centered Active Learning Environment with Upside-down Pedagogies project, are designed to facilitate active learning by maximizing opportunities for interactions between students and embedding technology in the classroom. Positive impacts when active learning replaces lecture are well documented, both in traditional lecture halls and SCALE-UP–type classrooms. However, few studies have carefully analyzed student outcomes when comparable active learning–based instruction takes place in a traditional lecture hall and a SCALE-UP–type classroom. Using a quasi-experimental design, we compared student perceptions and performance between sections of a nonmajors biology course, one taught in a traditional lecture hall and one taught in a SCALE-UP–type classroom. Instruction in both sections followed a flipped model that relied heavily on cooperative learning and was as identical as possible given the infrastructure differences between classrooms. Results showed that students in both sections thought that SCALE-UP infrastructure would enhance performance. However, measures of actual student performance showed no difference between the two sections. We conclude that, while SCALE-UP–type classrooms may facilitate implementation of active learning, it is the active learning and not the SCALE-UP infrastructure that enhances student performance. As a consequence, we suggest that institutions can modify existing classrooms to enhance student engagement without incorporating expensive technology.

scholarly journals Implementation of a Learning Assistant Program Improves Student Performance on Higher-Order Assessments

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. ar62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadia Sellami ◽  
Shanna Shaked ◽  
Frank A. Laski ◽  
Kevin M. Eagan ◽  
Erin R. Sanders
Keyword(s):  
Active Learning ◽  
Student Performance ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Higher Order ◽  
Underrepresented Minority ◽  
Learning Gains ◽  
Student Centered ◽  
Large Enrollment ◽  
Curricular Transformation ◽  
Positive Effect

Learning assistant (LA) programs have been implemented at a range of institutions, usually as part of a comprehensive curricular transformation accompanied by a pedagogical switch to active learning. While this shift in pedagogy has led to increased student learning gains, the positive effect of LAs has not yet been distinguished from that of active learning. To determine the effect that LAs would have beyond a student-centered instructional modality that integrated active learning, we introduced an LA program into a large-enrollment introductory molecular biology course that had already undergone a pedagogical transformation to a highly structured, flipped (HSF) format. We used questions from a concept test (CT) and exams to compare student performance in LA-supported HSF courses with student performance in courses without LAs. Students in the LA-supported course did perform better on exam questions common to both HSF course modalities but not on the CT. In particular, LA-supported students’ scores were higher on common exam questions requiring higher-order cognitive skills, which LAs were trained to foster. Additionally, underrepresented minority (URM) students particularly benefited from LA implementation. These findings suggest that LAs may provide additional learning benefits to students beyond the use of active learning, especially for URM students.

scholarly journals HIGHER AND LOWER-ORDER THINKING SKILLS: THE CASE OF CHEMISTRY REVISITED

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 467-483 ◽  
Author(s):  
Georgios Tsaparlis
Keyword(s):  
Student Performance ◽  
Lower Order ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Student Assessment ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Higher Order ◽  
Two Samples ◽  
Twelfth Grade ◽  
Low Performance ◽  
The Individual

This work analyses students’ failure in the 2019 Nationwide Chemistry Examination in Greece, which concerns secondary education graduates, competing for admission to higher education Greek institutions. The distinction of thinking skills into higher and lower order (HOTS and LOTS) is used as a theoretical tool for this analysis. The examination included several questions that contained HOTS elements that had been unusual in previous examinations. This led to a decrease in overall student performance but better discrimination between outstanding and good students. Based on two samples of examination papers, corresponding to very similar subsets of the student population, the 2018 and 2019 examinations are compared, and the individual 2019 questions are evaluated. It was found that section B of the 2019 examination paper (which included contexts unfamiliar to the students, and for which, a large effect size between 2018 and 2019 was calculated) may have caused the large drop. An important link is established between the 2019 low performance and the HOTS and LOTS features of the questions, and the role or non-role of algorithmic calculations is examined. In addition, the critical opinions of chemistry teachers are provided, with a consensus emerging in favour of connecting chemistry with everyday life. Keywords: chemistry examinations, higher-order cognitive skills, higher-order thinking skills, student assessment, twelfth-grade chemistry.

scholarly journals A Comparison Of Delivery Formats To Encourage Student-Centered Learning In A Power Engineering Technology Course

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-156
Author(s):  
Mathew J. Turner ◽  
Rustin D. Webster
Keyword(s):  
Active Learning ◽  
Student Performance ◽  
Power Engineering ◽  
Engineering Technology ◽  
Student Centered ◽  
Student Centered Learning ◽  
Course Structure ◽  
Inverted Classroom ◽  
Content Coverage ◽  
Technology Course

This paper describes a student-centered approach to a power engineering technology course using the flipped or inverted classroom as well as active learning in the form of group discussions and team problem solving. The study compares student performance and perceptions of a traditional, teaching-centered classroom to two different flipped courses: one using video lectures and one using a media-enhanced electronic textbook. The authors compared courses in the areas of 1) student performance on multiple choice and numerical analysis problems, 2) students’ perceptions of course delivery format and satisfaction with the course and instructor, and 3) technical content coverage. Results show little difference in student achievement between the course formats, strong negative reactions by students to unfamiliar instructional methods, and little difference in content coverage. The authors believe that the outcomes of this study can be attributed to the benefits of small class sizes (n<12), which naturally enable active learning to be utilized without the need for rigid and formal course structure,

scholarly journals Active Learning and Competency Preconditioning Strengthen Osteopathic Medical Student Performance, Physician Attributes, and Competency Assessments

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-10
Author(s):  
Vivek R Joshi ◽  
Michael J Younger ◽  
Bhargavi Joshi
Keyword(s):  
Active Learning ◽  
Medical School ◽  
Student Performance ◽  
Core Competencies ◽  
Strong Positive Correlation ◽  
Learning Tools ◽  
Traditional Lecture ◽  
Competency Based Education ◽  
Competency Based ◽  
Teacher Centered

Background: Medical education has been reliant on didactic lectures, which are predominantly teacher-centered learning. Competency-based education was introduced in North America and with this came a paradigm shift in how schools conceptualize curricula and measure learning outcomes. This modern approach started a change away from traditional lecture-based and teacher-centered curricula to a more student-centric approach using various tools. Competency based education is widely regarded as an outcome-based approach to design, implement and evaluate the curriculum using widely accepted competencies. Authorities recommend seven core competencies which have various indicators to address student performance. The main purpose of this research is to utilize active learning tools to enhance this approach and then assess competencies in the first year of medical school to improve academic outcomes as well as exposing students to competency domains on which they will be assessed and to ultimately create a complete physician. Methods: The study was conducted at a medical school during the first semester of medical school and included 145 students. Various active learning tools, such as modified case-based learning, quizzes, and case discussions, were used to assess competency in a biochemistry and genetics course, and these were compared to questions based on concepts delivered by the traditional lecture method. Results: Student performance on high-stakes examinations after active learning sessions on content and concepts had statistically higher average percentages on the second, third and fourth examinations. The average Diff (p) for the second, third, and fourth examination to the questions being considered for the study were (Diff p= 0.84, 0.83, and 0.92) with a positive moderate correlation for the second examination (r= 0.535) and strong positive correlation for the third and fourth examination (r=0.745 and r=0.856) for their final biochemistry grades. Conclusion: The study shows some positive and significant results that active learning methods are a useful and meaningful way to deliver a curriculum for a competency-based education system, and may be better suited than traditional lectures for providing content and assessing competencies which are necessary to become a complete physician.

scholarly journals Exploratory Activities for Understanding Evolutionary Relationships Depicted by Phylogenetic Trees: United but Diverse

2020 ◽  
Vol 82 (5) ◽  
pp. 333-337
Author(s):  
Erin L. McCullough ◽  
Lauren Verdeflor ◽  
Alaina Weinsztok ◽  
Jason R. Wiles ◽  
Steve Dorus
Keyword(s):  
Active Learning ◽  
Phylogenetic Trees ◽  
Learning Experiences ◽  
Biology Education ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Molecular Data ◽  
Evolutionary Relationships ◽  
Student Centered ◽  
Tree Thinking ◽  
Learning Module

Evolution explains both the unity and the diversity of all organisms, and developing students' ability to represent and communicate evolutionary relationships is an important component of a complete biology education. We present a series of student-centered, exploratory activities to help students develop their tree-thinking skills. In these activities, students use complementary phenotypic and molecular data to explore how to build phylogenetic trees and interpret the evolutionary relationships they represent. This learning module is designed to engage students in the process of science, provide them with active learning experiences using online bioinformatics tools, and foster their appreciation for the evolutionary connections across the tree of life.

scholarly journals Cognitive Effects of Technology Over Four Years of College

10.28945/3506 ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 181-196
Author(s):  
Chad N. Loes ◽  
Kem Saichaie
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Development ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Student Outcomes ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
National Study ◽  
Discussion Boards ◽  
Cognitive Effects ◽  
Electronic Medium ◽  
Positive Attitudes

Technology permeates higher education, yet less is known about the use of established technologies, such as email and other electronic communication mediums (e.g., discussion boards, listservs) for instructional purposes on important student outcomes such as cognitive development. In this study, we use data from the Wabash National Study to estimate the effects of email and other electronic medium use for academic purposes on three measures of cognitive development over four years of college. To investigate this, we regress each measure of cognitive development on email and electronic medium use, while simultaneously controlling for a wide array of potential confounding influences. Net of these influences, we find that email and electronic medium use are positively associated with gains in students’ Need for Cognition. These same technologies fail to have more than a chance influence on students’ critical thinking skills, however. Lastly, email use is associated with gains in the Positive Attitudes Toward Literacy measure for Whites and females, whereas electronic medium use leads to gains in the same outcome for racial and ethnic minorities. While institutions consider newer technologies for instructional purposes, our findings suggest established technologies can play a powerful role in the development of students’ cognitive skills.

scholarly journals Analysis of Cognitive Skills in History Textbook (Spain-England-Portugal)

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cosme J. Gómez ◽  
Glória Solé ◽  
Pedro Miralles ◽  
Raquel Sánchez
Keyword(s):  
Economic History ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
History Textbooks ◽  
Cognitive Level ◽  
History Textbook ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Student Centered ◽  
First Order ◽  
Quantitative Descriptive

The main objective of this article is to analyze the cognitive level of the activities in History textbooks in Spain, England, and Portugal in the transition stage from Primary to Secondary Education (11–13 years), according to the country of origin, typology, and the concepts and disciplinary contents included. The design of this research is quantitative, descriptive, and cross-sectional. The non-probabilistic sample consists of 6,561 activities contained in 27 school textbooks from Spain, England, and Portugal. Descriptive and contrast analyses have been carried out using parametric tests. The results indicate that textbooks from Spain and Portugal mainly include activities situated between a basic and intermediate cognitive level while in England, the cognitive level of activities is medium or high. The ANOVA and Tukey B tests show significant differences between the cognitive level required in the activities and the typology of exercises, the concepts, and historical contents worked on. The activities with higher cognitive level correspond to those of creation and essays, the exercises that work on empathy and historical relevance, and that contain activities of social and economic history. In contrast, the activities with the lowest cognitive level are short questions and objective tests, those that work on first-order concepts (data and concrete facts), and those on the History of Art. The conclusion is that there is a need for a balanced presence of first-order content and historical thinking skills, the application in the classroom of a more active student-centered methodology, and the teachers’ conception of history teaching that prioritizes historical skills.

scholarly journals Is Peer Interaction Necessary for Optimal Active Learning?

2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 243-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debra L. Linton ◽  
Jan Keith Farmer ◽  
Ernie Peterson
Keyword(s):  
Active Learning ◽  
Student Performance ◽  
Instructional Materials ◽  
Cooperative Groups ◽  
Traditional Lecture ◽  
Group Processing ◽  
Learning Techniques ◽  
Meta Analyses ◽  
Learning Interventions ◽  
Optimal Implementation

Meta-analyses of active-learning research consistently show that active-learning techniques result in greater student performance than traditional lecture-based courses. However, some individual studies show no effect of active-learning interventions. This may be due to inexperienced implementation of active learning. To minimize the effect of inexperience, we should try to provide more explicit implementation recommendations based on research into the key components of effective active learning. We investigated the optimal implementation of active-learning exercises within a “lecture” course. Two sections of nonmajors biology were taught by the same instructor, in the same semester, using the same instructional materials and assessments. Students in one section completed in-class active-learning exercises in cooperative groups, while students in the other section completed the same activities individually. Performance on low-level, multiple-choice assessments was not significantly different between sections. However, students who worked in cooperative groups on the in-class activities significantly outperformed students who completed the activities individually on the higher-level, extended-response questions. Our results provide additional evidence that group processing of activities should be the recommended mode of implementation for in-class active-learning exercises.

scholarly journals Positive Impact of Multiple-Choice Question Authoring and Regular Quiz Participation on Student Learning

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. ar16
Author(s):  
C. Daniel Riggs ◽  
Sohee Kang ◽  
Olivia Rennie
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Student Engagement ◽  
Active Learning ◽  
Student Learning ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Course Materials ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Proven Method

Active-learning exercises such as the generation of exam questions are a proven method of increasing student engagement and promoting critical-thinking skills. Students were encouraged to use questions generated by their peers to help promote learning of course materials. A statistically significant correlation between use and performance is reported.

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