Research and Teaching: It's Not Just for Points: Teacher Justifications and Student Perceptions About Active Learning

Abstract Background Active learning pedagogy has recently received a great deal of attention, and many universities have attempted to create student-centered learning environments to improve students’ academic success. The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of concept-point-recovery (CPR) teaching sessions as an active learning strategy on students’ perceptions of the learning environment, motivation, and academic learning outcomes in an electrical engineering course. To investigate the effectiveness of CPR sessions, students’ perceptions of learning and their performance were compared to those of students in a control classroom. Finally, students’ written comments on the course and instructor were explored in further analysis. Results The quantitative findings revealed that there was a significant change in students’ perceptions of learning after the CPR teaching sessions, and there was an increase in students’ perceptions and learning outcomes compared with those of the control group. In addition, the qualitative findings from students’ written feedback demonstrated that students felt that the instructor cared about students’ learning and success and that they had a positive learning environment. Conclusions CPR teaching sessions can be an alternative model for instructors to connect with students and create supportive environments to help students achieve academic success, which in turn promotes the satisfaction of students’ basic psychological needs and self-determined motivation. Therefore, increasing students’ engagement in their learning processes and making connections with students through CPR teaching sessions can facilitate improvements in students’ motivation and academic success. How this new active learning technique can be applied to higher education is discussed.

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Faculty and second-year medical student perceptions of active learning in an integrated curriculum

AJP Advances in Physiology Education ◽

10.1152/advan.00079.2016 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 40 (4) ◽

pp. 446-453 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Alexander Tsang ◽

David M. Harris

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Active Learning ◽

Lifelong Learning ◽

Student Perceptions ◽

Medical Curriculum ◽

Faculty Perceptions ◽

Mail Survey ◽

Passive Learning ◽

Teacher Students ◽

Second Year

Patients expect physicians to be lifelong learners who are able to interpret and evaluate diagnostic tests, and most medical schools list the development of lifelong learning in their program objectives. However, lecture is the most often utilized form of teaching in the first two years and is considered passive learning. The current generation of medical students has many characteristics that should support active learning pedagogies. The purpose of this study was to analyze student and faculty perceptions of active learning in an integrated medical curriculum at the second-year mark, where students have been exposed to multiple educational pedagogies. The first hypothesis of the study was that faculty would favor active learning methods. The second hypothesis was that Millennial medical students would favor active learning due to their characteristics. Primary faculty for years 1 and 2 and second-year medical students were recruited for an e-mail survey consisting of 12 questions about active learning and lecture. Students perceived that lecture and passive pedagogies were more effective for learning, whereas faculty felt active and collaborative learning was more effective. Students believed that more content should be covered by lecture than faculty. There were also significant differences in perceptions of what makes a good teacher. Students and faculty both felt that lack of time in the curriculum and preparation time were barriers for faculty. The data suggest that students are not familiar with the process of learning and that more time may be needed to help students develop lifelong learning skills.

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Effects of active learning classrooms on student learning: a two-year empirical investigation on student perceptions and academic performance

Higher Education Research & Development ◽

10.1080/07294360.2016.1196475 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 36 (2) ◽

pp. 269-279 ◽

Cited By ~ 24

Author(s):

Pit Ho Patrio Chiu ◽

Shuk Han Cheng

Keyword(s):

Academic Performance ◽

Active Learning ◽

Student Learning ◽

Student Perceptions ◽

Empirical Investigation

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Faculty and Student Perceptions of Active Learning

Active Learning in College Science ◽

10.1007/978-3-030-33600-4_55 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 889-907

Author(s):

Lorelei E. Patrick

Keyword(s):

Active Learning ◽

Student Perceptions

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Instructor facilitation mediates students’ negative perceptions of active learning instruction

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0261706 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (12) ◽

pp. e0261706

Author(s):

Elizabeth S. Park ◽

Ashley Harlow ◽

Amir AghaKouchak ◽

Brigette Baldi ◽

Nancy Burley ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Active Learning ◽

Student Perceptions ◽

Negative Relationship ◽

Task Value ◽

Observation Data ◽

Learning Approaches ◽

Perceived Utility ◽

Instructor Effectiveness ◽

The Relationship ◽

And Task

Studies have demonstrated students’ resistance to active learning, despite evidence illustrating that their learning is improved relative to students in lectures. Specifically, while active learning and group work are effective at engaging students in their learning process, studies report that students’ perceptions of active learning approaches are not always positive. What remains underexplored is whether students’ perceptions of active learning improve with effective instructor facilitation and whether there exists differential perceptions between racially minoritized students and represented students. Here, we estimate students’ perceptions of effective instructor facilitation as the mediator in the relationship between active learning and perceptions of learning and perceived utility for class activities (task value). Then, we examine differences by racial identification. We collected classroom observation data to empirically categorize courses as active learning or lecture-based and surveyed 4,257 college students across 25 STEM classrooms at a research-intensive university. We first examined the relationship between active learning on student perceptions and found a negative relationship between active learning and perceptions of learning and task value for both racially minoritized students and represented students. Next, we assessed whether students’ perceptions of instructor effectiveness in facilitating group activities mediate these negative relationships. We found that, on average, students of all races were more likely to positively perceive instructor facilitation in active learning classes relative to lectures. In turn, the positive perceptions of instructor facilitation partially suppressed the negative relationship between active learning and perceptions of learning and task value. These results demonstrate that effective instructor facilitation can influence both students’ self-assessment of learning and perceived utility of the learning activities, and underscores the importance of developing pedagogical competence among college instructors.

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