What Types of Instructional Shifts Do Students Experience? Investigating Active Learning in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Classes across Key Transition Points from Middle School to the University Level

Abstract

Despite the need for a strong Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) workforce, there is a high attrition rate for students who intend to complete undergraduate majors in these disciplines. Students who leave STEM degree programs often cite uninspiring instruction in introductory courses, including traditional lecturing, as a reason. While undergraduate courses play a critical role in STEM retention, little is understood about the instructional transitions students encounter upon moving from secondary to post-secondary STEM courses. This study compares classroom observation data collected using the Classroom Observation Protocol for Undergraduate STEM from over 450 middle school, high school, introductory-level university, and advanced-level university classes across STEM disciplines. We find similarities between middle school and high school classroom instruction, which are characterized by a large proportion of time spent on active-learning instructional strategies, such as small-group activities and peer discussion. By contrast, introductory and advanced university instructors devote more time to instructor-centered teaching strategies, such as lecturing. These instructorcentered teaching strategies are present in classes regardless of class enrollment size, class period length, or whether or not the class includes a separate laboratory section. Middle school, high school, and university instructors were also surveyed about their views of what STEM instructional practices are most common at each educational level and asked to provide an explanation of those perceptions. Instructors from all levels struggled to predict the level of lecturing practices and often expressed uncertainty about what instruction looks like at levels other than their own. These findings suggest that more opportunities need to be created for instructors across multiple levels of the education system to share their active-learning teaching practices and discuss the transitions students are making between different educational levels.

Roles matter: Graduate student perceptions of active learning in the STEM courses they take and those they teach

“…However, it is important to reiterate that these were self-reported perceptions of active learning techniques and we cannot independently verify the proportion of graduate level courses actually using AL, amount of time TAs actually devoted to AL, or that respondents consistently used the definition of AL we provided when answering the survey questions. However, recent work has shown that at least some AL is implemented in the majority of STEM middle school, high school, and undergraduate classrooms in Maine (8), university level STEM courses across North America (9), and interviews with graduate students indicate they are aware of AL teaching practices (36), all of which suggest that AL is becoming increasingly prevalent and graduate students know what these teaching practices are. In addition, the majority of CoS faculty and undergraduates at our institution reported using and/or experiencing AL in at least some their courses (15).…”

“…Akiha and co-workers (8) found that when students transition from high school to college, they experienced a marked instructional shift away from the majority of class time being devoted to AL, to lecture dominating their college classroom instruction. Our data suggest that students transitioning from undergraduate degrees to STEM graduate studies may experience another instructional shift to even less AL in their graduate level courses.…”

“…If undergraduate education reform progresses as advocates hope, an increasing number of students will enter graduate or professional schools having already been exposed to AL and scientific teaching practices during their undergraduate degrees (8,9). These students will likely expect that their graduate courses will take these practices to the next level and, given student responses to our survey, will also likely be disappointed that this is not always the case.…”

“…AL increases student engagement, learning, and course grades, and reduces failure rates (e.g., 1–5); these findings are so ubiquitous (but see 6), that researchers have shifted their focus from proving the benefits of active learning to determining which techniques are most useful for which students in which contexts (7). Despite the preponderance of evidence, AL is not yet used in all classrooms, particularly at the college level (8,9) and much work has sought to identify and lower barriers to implementing AL and other evidence-based teaching practices for faculty teaching undergraduate courses (10–14). Commonly identified barriers for faculty include class size, insufficient class time, and insufficient time to prepare materials (11,13,15).…”

“What Will I Experience in My College STEM Courses?” An Investigation of Student Predictions about Instructional Practices in Introductory Courses

“…Despite the call for incorporating active learning into classrooms, lecture is still the predominant instructional practice in college STEM courses regardless of course level or class size (Akiha et al, 2018;Stains et al, 2018). This focus on lecture in college classrooms differs significantly from instructional practices used in high school classes (Akiha et al, 2018).…”