Active learning narrows achievement gaps for underrepresented students in undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and math
Top Cited Papers
Open Access
- 9 March 2020
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
- Vol. 117 (12), 6476-6483
- https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1916903117
Abstract
We tested the hypothesis that underrepresented students in active-learning classrooms experience narrower achievement gaps than underrepresented students in traditional lecturing classrooms, averaged across all science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields and courses. We conducted a comprehensive search for both published and unpublished studies that compared the performance of underrepresented students to their overrepresented classmates in active-learning and traditional-lecturing treatments. This search resulted in data on student examination scores from 15 studies (9,238 total students) and data on student failure rates from 26 studies (44,606 total students). Bayesian regression analyses showed that on average, active learning reduced achievement gaps in examination scores by 33% and narrowed gaps in passing rates by 45%. The reported proportion of time that students spend on in-class activities was important, as only classes that implemented high-intensity active learning narrowed achievement gaps. Sensitivity analyses showed that the conclusions are robust to sampling bias and other issues. To explain the extensive variation in efficacy observed among studies, we propose the heads-and-hearts hypothesis, which holds that meaningful reductions in achievement gaps only occur when course designs combine deliberate practice with inclusive teaching. Our results support calls to replace traditional lecturing with evidence-based, active-learning course designs across the STEM disciplines and suggest that innovations in instructional strategies can increase equity in higher education.Keywords
Funding Information
- University of Washington College of Arts and Sciences (NA)
This publication has 56 references indexed in Scilit:
- Increased Course Structure Improves Performance in Introductory BiologyCBE—Life Sciences Education, 2011
- Lessons from high‐achieving students of color in physicsNew Directions for Institutional Research, 2010
- Replacing Lecture with Peer-led Workshops Improves Student LearningCBE—Life Sciences Education, 2009
- How Leaky Is the Health Career Pipeline? Minority Student Achievement in College Gateway CoursesAcademic Medicine, 2009
- Integrative data analysis: The simultaneous analysis of multiple data sets.Psychological Methods, 2009
- Closing the achievement gap in higher education: An organizational learning perspectiveNew Directions for Higher Education, 2005
- A threat in the air: How stereotypes shape intellectual identity and performance.American Psychologist, 1997
- A threat in the air: How stereotypes shape intellectual identity and performance.American Psychologist, 1997
- Generative Learning Processes of the BrainEducational Psychologist, 1992
- Chapter 2: An Exposition of Constructivism: Why Some Like It RadicalJournal for Research in Mathematics Education. Monograph, 1990