Are students learning as much as they think they are? Barriers to implementation of active learning

Discussion Leaders:  Louis Deslauriers, PhD and Kelly Miller, PhD
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Overview: You are invited to join SEAS Faculty for a luncheon discussion around students’ perceptions of learning in a traditional vs an active learning classroom – and the impact of these perceptions on student learning, student enjoyment of the course and student course evaluations. 

Discussion will center on the following:
Deslauriers, L., McCarty L., Miller, K., Callaghan, K., and Kestin G. (2018) Are students learning as much as they think they are? Barriers to implementation of active learning. Unpublished manuscript. Department of Physics, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, and School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

Abstract: We compared students’ self-reported perception of learning with their actual learning in large enrollment introductory college physics courses taught using (i) active instruction (following best practices in the discipline), and (ii) passive instruction (lecture). Both groups received identical class content and handouts, and students were randomly assigned. Students in active classrooms learned more (as would be expected based on prior research), but their perception of learning, while positive, was lower than that of their peers in passive environments. In addition, students in passive lectures reported higher satisfaction and a greater desire to have “all of their physics classes taught this way.” These misperceptions may reduce students’ motivation to participate in active learning and may discourage faculty from adopting research-based active teaching strategies. These results also suggest that attempts to evaluate instruction based on students’ perceptions of learning could inadvertently promote inferior (passive) pedagogical methods.