Active Learning in College Science: The Case for Evidence-Based Practice

by Joel J. Mintzes, Emily M. Walter

Overview

This book explores evidence-based practice in college science teaching. It is grounded in disciplinary education research by practicing scientists who have chosen to take Wieman’s (2014) challenge seriously, and to investigate claims about the efficacy of alternative strategies in college science teaching. In editing this book, we have chosen to showcase outstanding cases of exemplary practice supported by solid evidence, and to include practitioners who offer models of teaching and learning that meet the high standards of the scientific disciplines. Our intention is to let these distinguished scientists speak for themselves and to offer authentic guidance to those who seek models of excellence. Our primary audience consists of the thousands of dedicated faculty and graduate students who teach undergraduate science at community and technical colleges, 4-year liberal arts institutions, comprehensive regional campuses, and flagship research universities.

In keeping with Wieman’s challenge, our primary focus has been on identifying classroom practices that encourage and support meaningful learning and conceptual understanding in the natural sciences. The content is structured as follows: after an Introduction based on Constructivist Learning Theory (Section I), the practices we explore are Eliciting Ideas and Encouraging Reflection (Section II); Using Clickers to Engage Students (Section III); Supporting Peer Interaction through Small Group Activities (Section IV); Restructuring Curriculum and Instruction (Section V); Rethinking the Physical Environment (Section VI); Enhancing Understanding with Technology (Section VII), and Assessing Understanding (Section VIII). The book’s final section (IX) is devoted to Professional Issues facing college and university faculty who choose to adopt active learning in their courses.

The common feature underlying all of the strategies described in this book is their emphasis on actively engaging students who seek to make sense of natural objects and events. Many of the strategies we highlight emerge from a constructivist view of learning that has gained widespread acceptance in recent years. In this view, learners make sense of the world by forging connections between new ideas and those that are part of their existing knowledge base. For most students, that knowledge base is riddled with a host of naïve notions, misconceptions and alternative conceptions they have acquired throughout their lives. To a considerable extent, the job of the teacher is to coax out these ideas; to help students understand how their ideas differ from the scientifically accepted view; to assist as students restructure and reconcile their newly acquired knowledge; and to provide opportunities for students to evaluate what they have learned and apply it in novel circumstances. Clearly, this prescription demands far more than most college and university scientists have been prepared for.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783030335991
Publisher:	Springer International Publishing
Publication date:	02/24/2020
Edition description:	1st ed. 2020
Pages:	1001
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

Joel J. Mintzes (B.S., M.S. Illinois, Ph.D. Northwestern) is a veteran of 40 years in the college biology classroom, having served on faculties in Canada, North Carolina, and California. His widely published research focuses on conceptual development and cognitive processes in biology, and environmental education. He has served on numerous editorial boards, as co-editor of three previous volumes, and worked as Director of Research of The Private Universe Project, and Senior Researcher of the MOSART and FICSS projects at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Lead Fellow at the National Institute for Science Education (University of Wisconsin), Fulbright-Technion Fellow at the Israel Institute of Technology, Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Homi Bhaba Centre for Science Education in India, and Visiting Scholar at Providence University in Taiwan, and Beijing Normal University in the Peoples Republic of China. He was co-recipient of the Award of Merit given by the editorial board of the journal, Science Education, for his work on alternative conceptions in science.

Emily M. Walter (B.S. Iowa State, M.S. Western Illinois, Ph.D. Missouri, Post Doc, Western Michigan) is Assistant Professor of Biology and Director of the STEM Education Center at California State University, Fresno. Her extensive research, publications and presentations focus on teaching practices and pedagogical content knowledge of college science faculty, and evolution education. Her work has resulted in the development and validation of instruments that examine students’ understanding of evolution and climate change, and on the influence of the academic workplace on faculty instructional practices. Currently she is engaged in a collaborative, on-going effort to improve college science teaching in the Arab Republic of Egypt.

Table of Contents

Section I, Introduction.- 1 From Constructivism to Active Learning in College Science; Joel J. Mintzes.- 2 Evidence-Based Practices for the Active Learning Classroom; Robert Idsardi.- 3 Student Engagement in Active Learning Classes; Linda C. Hodges.- 4 Active Learning and Conceptual Understanding in College Biology; Jeffrey T. Olimpo and David Esparza.- 5 Navigating the Barriers to Adoption and Sustained Use of Active Learning; Emily M. Walter, Lillian Senn and Evelin E. Munoz.- Section II, Eliciting Ideas and Encouraging Reflection with Written Inscriptions.- 6 Reflective Writing in Active Learning Classrooms; Calvin S. Kalman.- 7 Using Writing in Science Class to Understand and Activate Student Engagement and Self-Efficacy; Eileen K. Camfield, Laura Beaster-Jones, Alex D. Miller, and Kirkwood M. Land.- 8 Enhancing the Quality of Concept Mapping in Undergraduate Science; Ian M. Kinchin.- Section III, Using Clickers to Engage Students.- 9 Personal Response Systems: Making an Informed Choice; Kathleen M. Koenig.- 10 Clickers in the Biology Classroom: Strategies for Writing and Effectively Implementing Clicker Questions that Maximize Student Learning; Michelle K. Smith and Jennifer K. Knight.- 11 Click-on Diagram Questions: Using Clickers to Engage Students in Visual-Spatial Reasoning; Nicole D. LaDue and Thomas F. Shipley.- 12 Clicker Implementation Styles in STEM; Angela Fink and Regina F. Frey.- Section IV, Supporting Peer Interaction with Small Group Activities.- 13 Peer Interaction in Active Learning Biology; Debra L. Linton.- 14 Peer-Led Team Learning; Pratibha Varma-Nelson and Mark Cracolice.- 15 Team-Based Learning in STEM and the Health Sciences; Sarah Leupen.- 16 Collaborative Learning in College Science: Evoking Positive Interdependence; Karan Scager, Johannes Boostra, Ton Peeters, Jonne Vulperhorst and Fred Wiegant.- 17 Silent Students in the Active Learning Classroom; Carrie A. Obenland, Ashlyn H. Munson and John S. Hutchinson.- Section V, Restructuring Curriculum and Instruction.- 18 Why Traditional Lab-Based Courses Fail…And What We Can Do About It; N.G. Holmes.- 19 Redesigning Science Courses to Enhance Engagement and Performance; Xiufeng Liu, Chris Rates, Ann Showers, Lara Hutson and Tilman Baumstark.- 20 Evolution of a Student Centered Biology Class: How Systematically Testing Aspects of Class Structure has Informed our Teaching; Deborah A. Donovan and Georgianne L. Connell.- 21 Problem-Based Learning in College Science; Woei Hung and Ademola Amida.- 22 Project-based Guided Inquiry (PBGI) in Introductory Chemistry; Lindsay B. Wheeler and Lisa N. Morkowchuk.- 23 Investigative Science Learning Environment: Learn Physics by Practicing Science; Eugenia Etkina, David T. Brookes and Gorazd Planinsic.- 24 Student Generated Instructional Materials; Brian P. Coppola and Jason K. Pontrello.- 25 The Physics of Medicine Program: Development of an Active Learning Curriculum at the Intersection of Physics and Medicine; Nancy L. Donaldson.- 26 Connecting Physics and Medicine: Engaging Students Online and in the Classroom; Ralf Widenhorn.- 27 Gamification in General Chemistry; Dave Allen Jenkins, Jr. and Diana Mason.- 28 Group Active Engagement in Introductory Biology: The Role of Undergraduate Teaching and Learning Assistants; Hannah E. Jardine, Daniel M. Levin and Todd J. Cook.- 29 Course Based Undergraduate Research Experiences in Biological Sciences; Stanley M. Lo and John C. Mordacq.- Section VI, Rethinking the Physical Environment: Studio Classrooms and Flipped Instruction.- 30 Active Learning Spaces: Matching Science Classrooms with Pedagogy; Jenay Robert, Crystal Ramsay, Sarah E. Ades, Kenneth C. Keiler and Christopher Palma.- 31 The TEAL Physics Project at MIT; Peter Dourmashkin, Michelle Tomasik and Saif Rayyan.- 32 Implementing the Studio Classroom in Chemistry; Alan L. Kiste.- 33 The Flipped Learning Model in General Science: Effects on Students’ Learning Outcomes and Affective Dimensions; David Gonzalez-Gomez and Jin Su Jeong.- 34 Designing and Delivering Flipped Courses: Instructor and Student Perceptions from Basic Medical Sciences; Sarah McLean.- 35 Active Learning with Visual Representations in College Science; Martina A. Rau and John W. Moore.- Section VII, Enhancing Understanding with Technology; 36 Utilizing Technology to Support Scientific Argumentation in Active Learning Classrooms; J. Bryan Henderson and Earl Aguilera.- 37 Computer Manipulatives and Student Engagement in an Online Mathematics Course; Jennifer French, Haynes Miller and Anindya Roy.- 38 Online Collaborative Learning in STEM; Brett M. McCollum.- 39 Innovation in a MOOC: Project-Based Learning in the International Context; Miri Barak and Maya Usher.- 40 Social Media as a Tool for Teaching Large Enrollment Science Classes; Aditi Pai.- 41 Interactive Video Vignettes for Teaching Science; Robert B. Teese, Kathy M. Koenig and David P. Jackson.- 42 Earthlabs: A Model for Supporting Undergraduate Student Inquiry about Change over Time and Space; Karen S. McNeal, Julie C. Libarkin, Tamara Shapiro Ledley and Katherine K. Ellins.- 43 Google Earth Activities in Online Geosciences Classrooms; Athena Owen Nagel and Renee M. Clary.- 44 Challenges and Opportunities for Virtual Learning in College Geology; Youngwoo Cho and Renee M. Clary.- 45 Using 3D Printing in Science for Elementary Teachers; Elena Novak and Sonya Wisdom.- 46 Using Augmented Reality to Promote Active Learning in College Science; Eric E. Goff, Adam Hartstone-Rose, Matthew J. Irvin and Kelly Lynn Mulvey.- 47 Error Discovery Learning; Christopher Lee.- Section VIII, Assessing Understanding.- 48 Concept Inventories: Design, Application, Uses, Limitations and Next Steps; Michael W. Klymkowsky and Kathy Garvin-Doxas.- 49 Collaborative Learning and Formative Assessment in Astronomy; Michael C. LoPresto.- 50 Active Learning in Astronomy: Learning Goals, Assessment and Class Time; Timothy F. Slater.- 51 Collaborative Assessment that Supports Learning; Georg W. Rieger and Caroline L. Rieger.- 52 Collaborative Group Testing in Human Physiology; Mario Vazquez-Garcia.- 53 Engineering Teachers’ Assessment Knowledge in Active and Project Based Learning; Daphna Shwartz-Asher, Shari Reiss, Amona Abu-Younis Ali and Yehudit Judy Dori.- Section IX, Active Learning and the College Science Instructor.- 54 Enhancing Diversity in College Science with Active Learning; Cissy J. Ballen.- 55 Faculty and Student Perceptions of Active Learning; Lorelei E. Patrick.- 56 Student Anxiety and Fear of Negative Evaluation in Active Learning Science Classrooms; Katelyn M. Cooper and Sara E. Brownell.- 57 Student Motivation and Resistance in Active Learning Classrooms; David C. Owens, Angela T. Barlow and Cindi Smith-Walters.- 58 Evidence-based Strategies to Reduce Student Resistance to Active Learning; Cynthia J. Finelli and Maura Borrego.- 59 Considering Diverse Learners in STEM: Incorporating Universal Design for Learning with Clickers; Angela N. Google, Grant E. Gardner, Joshua W. Reid, Diane Majewski, Vera Tabakova, Karen Mulcany and Subodh Dutta.- 60 Preparing the Next Generation of Educators for Active Learning; Alexandru Maries.- 61 When Active Learning Fails…..and What to do About it; Dee Unglaub Silverthorn.-