Engaging students in active learning is linked to positive learning outcomes. This study aims to synthesise the peer-reviewed literature about 'active learning' in college science classroom settings. Using the methodology of an integrative literature review, 337 articles archived in the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) are examined. Four categories of in-class activities emerge: (i) individual non-polling activities, (ii) in-class polling activities, (iii) whole-class discussion or activities, and (iv) in-class group activities. Examining the collection of identified inclass activities through the lens of a theoretical framework informed by constructivism and social interdependence theory, we synthesise the reviewed literature to propose the active learning strategies (ALSs) model and the instructional decisions to enable active learning (IDEAL) theory. The ALS model characterises in-class activities in terms of the degrees to which they are designed to promote (i) peer interaction and (ii) social interdependence. The IDEAL theory includes the ALS model and provides a framework for conceptualising different levels of the general concept 'active learning' and how these levels connect to instructional decision-making about using in-class activities. The proposed ALS model and IDEAL theory can be utilised to inform instructional decision-making and future research about active learning in college science courses.

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Sequence stratigraphic interpretation and three-dimensional spatial and spatiotemporal skills are considered important for the petroleum industry. However, little is known about the relationship between the two. This study begins to fill this gap by testing whether spatial skills predict success on a sequence stratigraphic interpretation task. Students in this study (N = 78) were enrolled in undergraduate or graduate stratigraphy-focused courses at three U.S. state universities. Students completed (1) a sequence stratigraphic interpretation task with a sequence stratigraphic diagram and Wheeler diagram and (2) two spatial skills tests. Findings of simple linear regressions show that both disembedding (extracting or finding a pattern among other features, which is typically assessed by the hidden-figures test) and mental folding and unfolding (as assessed by the surface development test) are predictive of student success on the full sequence stratigraphic interpretation task. A nested regression, entering mental folding as the initial variable and disembedding as the secondary variable, showed that mental folding and unfolding accounted for almost all of the variance accounted for by disembedding in the simple regression. This may reflect the need to employ disembedding for the test of mental folding. Because the test of disembedding and the test of mental folding and unfolding were correlated, the distinct role of disembedding in stratigraphy remains unclear. However, the results clearly show that mental folding and unfolding is related to student success in sequence stratigraphic interpretation. Future studies should characterize how students utilize these skills, try to determine the causal direction of this effect, and identify good practices for supporting students in the classroom.