Lectures aren’t just boring, they’re ineffective, too, study finds

Posted on May 3rd, 2014

A new study by Scott Freeman of the University of Washington, Seattle, found that undergraduate students in classes with traditional stand-and-deliver lectures are 1.5 times more likely to fail than students in classes that use more stimulating, active learning methods. Freeman and a group of colleagues analyzed 225 studies of undergraduate STEM teaching methods. The meta-analysis concluded that teaching approaches that turned students into active participants rather than passive listeners reduced failure rates and boosted scores on exams by almost one-half a standard deviation. While there was no single definition of active learning approaches, these approaches included asking students to answer questions by using handheld clickers, calling on individuals or groups randomly, or having students clarify concepts to each other and reach a consensus on an issue.

http://news.sciencemag.org/lectures-arent-just-boring-theyre-ineffective-too-study-finds