Survey results from a random sample of U.S. college biology faculty identify an overwhelming dissatisfaction with end-of-semester student evaluations. Instead, faculty desire greater guidance from peer observations as well as student assessment data to help inform curricular and pedagogical decision making.
When previous research is cited incorrectly, misinformation can infiltrate scientific discourse and undermine scholarly knowledge. One of the more damaging citation issues involves incorrectly citing article content (called quotation errors); therefore, investigating quotation accuracy is an important research endeavor. One field where quotation accuracy is needed is in the learning sciences given its impact on pedagogy. An integral article in pedagogical discussions surrounding how to teach at the college level is the meta-analysis on active learning by Freeman et al. The Freeman et al. meta-analysis compared active learning to traditional lecture in terms of its effects on student learning and has been important in national initiatives on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) reform. Given its influence coupled with the impact quotation errors could have in scientific discourse, we used citation context analysis to analyze whether assertions in the citing text that related to the efficacy of lecture and active learning were supported by what was explicitly stated in the cited meta-analysis. Assertions were analyzed undersupported, unsupported, or irrelevant for purposes of study categories. The most prevalent supported category related to active learning being more effective than lecture; the most prevalent unsupported category related to the effectiveness of specific activities/approaches other than the general approach of active learning. Overall, the percentage of supported assertions was 47.67%, and the percentage of unsupported assertions was 26.01%. Furthermore, the percentage of articles containing at least one unsupported assertion was 34.77%. Proactive measures are needed to reduce the incidence of quotation errors to ensure robust scientific integrity.
To gain a better understanding of the landscape of active learning research, we conducted a bibliometric analysis of 1671 scholarly sources that cited the influential meta-analysis on active learning conducted by Freeman et al. We investigated eight research questions including yearly publication trends; authorships; country/ region affiliations, organizations, and funding entities; Web of Science Core Collection (WOSCC) subject categories; document types; and publication outlets. Results showed an increasing number of sources from 2014 to 2019, 17% of sources supported by the National Science Foundation, approximately 75% of sources published in journals, the majority of sources published in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) journals, and most of the publication outlets categorized in education-or science-related disciplines in WOSCC. In addition, there were 5 countries/regions and 8 universities that tended to be the most highly represented within sources citing the meta-analysis. These results highlight the impact of a prominent meta-analysis and the widespread reach it has had around the world. Implications for how this study may impact research consumers and producers are discussed.
“Active learning” has been used to describe classrooms that have varied widely with respect to instructional topics, age of learners, and the procedures used to operationalize the general notion of the term. In most cases, the specific variant of active learning under investigation has been more effective than the particular control used for comparison. The goal of the current study was to unambiguously describe, implement, and assess 4 different active learning implementations that varied based on the instructional technique employed by the teacher. The specific topic taught was the procedure for constructing experiments in which a single causal factor is clearly identified and there are no confounds. The procedure is commonly known in the literature on early scientific thinking as the “control of variables strategy” (CVS). The sample consisted of 145 3rd- and 4th-grade students from 3 schools. Students in each grade at each school were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 active learning conditions. Learning of CVS was measured through a hands-on, active learning activity and a written pre- and posttest. Results indicated that compared to minimal guidance/minimal guidance/activity, modeling/direct guidance/activity resulted in significantly higher levels of CVS knowledge on the hands-on activity. When examining student learning from pre- to posttest, students in all conditions had significant learning gains. However, the largest effect sizes were for modeling/direct guidance/activity followed by modeling/modeling/activity, and the weakest effect size was for minimal guidance/minimal guidance/activity. Thus, more direct/explicit forms of active learning promoted higher learning of CVS than more inquiry-based forms.
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