Active Learning in a Non-Majors Biology Class Lessons Learned
Elaine B. McClanahan and Lon L. McClanahan
Abstract. This article describes how a tradi- dents enroll in the lecture independent of dynamics, and student learning outcomes tional biology lecture course was transformed the laboratories. for an introductory non-majors biology into an interactive class. A review the activi- Lon’s teaching style is that of the tradi- course. The framework we used to design ties used, changes made to grading policy, and practical tips for integration of active learning tional college professor, taking a “sage on our classroom uses “instructional activi- in the classroom are provided. Analysis of stu- the stage” (King 1993) approach. ties involving students in doing things dent responses to course assessments indicat- Although my initial teaching style was also and thinking about what they are doing” ed that active learning experiences helped the traditional lecture, I learned a more (Bonwell and Eisen 1991). them focus on and understand key concepts of facilitative teaching approach after I left To ensure that students were evaluated the course. Students performed as well as, or better than, those in previous classes that used academia to work in business and industry. on their participation as well as their a more traditional lecture technique. Active I have since returned to higher education, scores on traditional multiple-choice learning enriches the classroom learning expe- and my teaching style is now a more inter- exams, we modified the course syllabus. rience and can be incorporated into a large active “guide on the side” (King 1993) Previously the grading plan was based lecture setting with relative ease. approach. When Lon and I decided to co- solely on three multiple-choice exams teach, the biggest challenge we faced was and a cumulative final. Our new course or those of you who have begun or how to reconcile, and eventually combine, would measure achievement through are thinking about implementing teaching styles that appear at first to be dia- three multiple-choice exams, a cumula- F active learning, the following metrically opposed. tive final, a reading reflection, study jour- describes a personal journey into active In recent years Lon noticed a drastic nals, a problem-based learning activity, learning and our “lessons learned.” In the decrease in student attendance at lectures and student formative and summative process, we offer practical tips that you and that those who attended class were assessments of class activities. Instead of may wish to consider when planning a often passive and unengaged. He was lecture only, we conducted mini-lectures course. interested in seeking new ways to reach (20 to 30 minutes) and in-class learning In fall 2000 we co-taught two large his students but unsure of what approach activities. We also included student introductory non-major biology courses. to take. After learning of studies that assessments of the instructional strategies Lon has taught both lower and upper indicated that students in courses taught as a form of active learning. The com- division courses at the university level using active learning strategies have done plete list of active learning methods we for thirty-four years. I (Elaine) have as well or better than those taught in a tra- used are described in the sidebar. taught lower division courses at the col- ditional lecture mode, he was willing to One of the significant things we lege level for fifteen years. The course explore these techniques (Black 1993; learned was that it is helpful to start by we taught is lecture only, and although Paulson 1999). He also recognized that selecting a strategy that is compatible there is a laboratory component, stu- students have different learning styles with your teaching style and comfort and believed that multiple teaching strate- level. Then develop the student learning gies might engage those who did not outcomes for a topic, and select a corre- Elaine B. McClanahan is president of respond to the lecture mode. sponding active learning strategy that can Strategic Learning in Chino Hills, California, and Lon L. McClanahan is Professor We selected several active learning help you achieve the goal. Share your Emeritus in the department of biology at strategies to implement based on student ideas with someone who has experience California State University, in Fullerton. profiles, desired changes in classroom in implementing active learning and seek
92 COLLEGE TEACHING their feedback. Finally, try your plan, Active Learning Techniques reflect on the results, and then make Matrix (BSCS 1998) adjustments where improvements are A matrix is a chart that requires students to represent lecture material in a format different needed. from the way it was presented. It focuses on key concepts and requires the use of higher- We produced the following practical order thinking skills. One way in which we used a matrix was for comparing and contrast- ing the process and products of cellular respiration with photosynthesis. tips based on our experience. Partial Outline (Angelo and Cross 1993) Practical Suggestions The partial outline technique builds outlining and note-taking skills and allows students to focus on important concepts. We used this technique after a mini-lecture on basic chem- Set the stage. istry and asked student to complete an outline by using the following main topics: defini- Create the expectation that students tion of a type of chemical bond, significance in living things, and examples. will actively participate in this class. One Think, Pair, Share (King 1993) way to accomplish that is to include a This technique is extremely versatile and may be implemented in a variety of ways. In gen- statement in your syllabus about your eral, students think about a question posed by the instructor and then pair with one or two others to share their responses. A final step, which we included, was a class debrief of pair teaching strategies. For example: responses. I will be using a variety of teaching strate- Debrief (McClanahan and Wicks 1993) gies in this class. Some of these activities A debrief is an instructor-guided discussion of student (individual or group) interactive may require that you interact with me or work. This discussion validates student responses or corrects inaccurate responses. Stu- other students in class. I hope you will find dents who did not respond to the question learn the correct response at this time. these methods interesting and engaging, and that they enable you to be more suc- Brainstorming cessful in this course. Brainstorming generates ideas about a topic. All responses are accepted and written on a board, flip chart, or overhead transparency. We used this process to introduce topics and In the syllabus, describe the specific assess what students knew about them. We then tailored the mini-lecture or lecture that fol- learning activities you plan to conduct. lowed to build on student knowledge and/or clarify misconceptions. These descriptions let the students know Mini-Problem Based Learning Activity what to expect from you as well as what In this activity, small groups (class action teams) of three or four students work together to you expect from them. We included the investigate a scenario or problem provided by the instructor. Mini-lectures on foundation- al principles are given at specific points. Each student within a group conducts a part of the learning activities described in sidebar in research needed to solve the problem. Research is conducted outside of class and then our syllabus. shared with the group in class. Individuals synthesize final projects from pertinent infor- mation. Students determine the final format of their own projects. Our mini-problem based Develop a grading policy that supports learning activity was completed during four class sessions and some outside-class time. active learning. Reading Reflection Active learning experiences that are A reading reflection is a one-page summary report based on reading course-related mater- important enough to do are important ial on a topic the student finds particularly interesting. This reflection can be a review of a enough to be included as part of a student’s newspaper article, a journal article, on an article on an Internet site, a discussion of a con- grade. For example, in our class, students cept read in the textbook, or a discussion of concepts read in a book related to the course topic. A rubric was provided to students describing how their reflection would be graded. who completed the first post-exam study journal received 10 points. A problem- Study Journal The study journal is a brief questionnaire, administered periodically throughout the course based learning experience was worth 50 that asks questions about the students’ study habits and the extent to which they think in- points. The students received a rubric class learning activities increase their ability to learn. explaining the criteria used to grade the Plus/Delta (McClanahan and Wicks 1993) activity. The total number of points in our A Plus/Delta chart is a quick and easy way to obtain feedback from students about what is class was 650; 150 of these points were working for them in the class and what needs improvement. It can be used at the end of an assigned to active learning activities. assignment or class session, or as a periodic check throughout the semester. Pluses or deltas The class syllabus should describe your may address class activities, instructor or student performance, instructional materials, or grading policy for active learning experi- the classroom environment. A plus identifies elements that students believe worked well and helped them learn. For example, our students said talking to other students in class ences and how those grades factor into the about what they had just heard in lecture often simplified the material and helped them student’s final grade. Clarify with the stu- learn. A delta describes how the students would change the existing learning situation to dents that these points are not extra credit. improve their learning. For example, our students suggested that we provide study guides These activities, just like exams, will be for our exams. Individual student plus/deltas can easily be done by asking students to take counted when grades are determined. a sheet of notebook paper and divide it into two columns. At the top of the first column, ∆ ask students to write a (+). At the top of the other column, ask students to write a ( ). Make sure that active learning Final Course Assessment experiences are value-added—identify the A comprehensive questionnaire is used as a final course assessment that basically evaluates purpose and student learning outcomes. the effect of different aspects of the class on overall learning. The specific assessment tool used can be viewed at
Vol. 50/No. 3 93 ty will enhance student understanding of Plan enough time in your lesson for groups frees the professor to walk around a concept? Will interacting with the mate- students to complete each activity and for and interact with students more personal- rial in some way other than listening (for you to “debrief” the activity following its ly. He or she can respond to student ques- example, developing a matrix or concept completion. The debrief may take many tions, ask additional questions, or chat map, using manipulatives, or role play- forms. One simple method is to ask stu- informally with students about the class. ing), clarify concepts for students? Do dents to share their work with the class. If And because students perceive professors you want to check for understanding—a no one responds, provide prompts to as more approachable when they are not quick assessment of learning? Think stimulate thinking and encourage stu- standing in front of an entire class, those about what you want the students to know dents to make educated guesses. Usually, students who are reluctant to ask ques- or be able to do as a result of the activity. a student will respond to a specific tions in a large group will often feel more If you are not clear about it, students will prompt, and then you can facilitate a comfortable questioning the material in a not be clear about it. They will not grasp more general discussion. more informal class setting. the value of the activity and may see it as a waste of time. Bracket mini-lectures with in-class Determine how you will accommodate active learning experiences. nonparticipation in learning activities. Eliminate lecture material to provide the Many students have difficulty focusing Sometimes students reject working in time for active learning. attentively for the traditional fifty-minute groups. Some of our students commented Integrating active learning into class lecture and may find themselves over- on the final class assessment that they time means something must go—at least whelmed by the amount and complexity learned better on their own. Others felt in terms of what you present. Don’t of information that is presented. We that working groups can become too expect to cover everything you now cover found that breaking the lecture into sociable. Student reasons for nonpartici- in a lecture, as well as the new active smaller, more manageable bits makes it pation may include differences in learn- learning experiences. If you do, you will easier to process the information. ing styles, shyness, cultural diversity, a find yourself perpetually rushing without An effective way of creating bits of language barrier, or lack of confidence in accomplishing all of your instructional conceptual information is to use an activ- their own or other students’ knowledge. goals. ity before or after presenting key con- You must decide beforehand how you To determine what can be eliminated cepts. For example, in previous lectures would deal with the situation. In our from lectures, review your presentation on basic energetics in our classroom, we classroom we decided to encourage stu- with your student learning outcomes in covered the first and second laws of ther- dents to work in pairs or threes; however, mind when planning your syllabus. modynamics and endergonic and exer- we did not force the issue. Some of our Decide which information you must pre- gonic reactions. This time, we introduced activities could be accomplished individ- sent and which concepts may be deleted the first and second laws of thermody- ually, and we allowed this as an alterna- or might be better learned through active namics and then did a “Think, Pair, tive, as long as the students appeared to learning experiences. This is a difficult Share” activity (sidebar). The activity be working and were not disruptive. step for a “sage on the stage” instructor, gave students time to discuss the laws Later, we tended to seek out the loners while for the “guide on the side,” it is eas- among themselves, apply the information and encourage them to interact with us. ier to trust the process of active learning to a specific situation, and discuss the Completing activities that were out-of- and believe that when students engage in information with their peers, fostering class experiences, such as study journals, the chosen activities, they will uncover more thorough understanding. Debriefing the midterm plus/delta, and the reading and more easily understand concepts that in class allowed remaining student ques- reflection, were really matters of student used to be in lecture. This uncovering of tions to be discussed and enabled us to choice. These activities earned points, content through active learning tech- determine how well the students compre- and if students chose not to do the activi- niques is one way in which students cre- hended the lecture before we moved on to ty, they forfeited the points. ate meaning of course content for them- the next set of concepts. selves. We found that the mini-lecture, com- Use or respond to student feedback bined with an active learning technique, whenever possible. Debrief in-class learning activities. may generate more questions from stu- One of the most powerful tools a Debriefing is critical to reach closure dents and allow them to deconstruct diffi- teacher can use in the classroom is to ask of a lesson. Students will feel more com- cult concepts. students for feedback and then use it. fortable with the material if closure is Using student feedback to make improve- reached. This does not necessarily mean Interact with students during active ments in the learning experience rein- that the instructor provides the students learning experiences. forces the notion that your class is a part- with the “right answer.” It does mean that Students rarely have individual time nership and that you value your students’ the instructor guides the discussion in with professors in large lecture classes. ideas as means to strengthen that partner- such a way that the correct responses Such classes tend to be impersonal, and ship and create more successful learning. emerge from the group or that a follow- some students find them intimidating. On our final class assessment, the stu- up activity is generated. Breaking the class into smaller working dents commented how much they appre-
94 COLLEGE TEACHING ciated that their feedback was used to tai- ceived various classroom experiences. on molecular biology. Students comment- lor the class to their needs. We were prepared to revert to the tradi- ed that this activity helped them to con- For example, after the class’s second tional lectures if students did not find that nect terms and concepts providing a exam, we put a simple plus/delta tool these strategies improved their under- greater depth of understanding of con- (McClanahan and Wicks 1993) to the standing of major concepts. Our analysis cepts that were unfamiliar. The students test, asking students what aspects of the of student responses indicated that they also stated that this type of activity helped class helped their learning (plus), and felt that the active learning experiences them to retain information. Further stud- what changes they would like made helped them focus on, and improved their ies will need to be done to investigate (deltas) before the next exam. Approxi- understanding of, key concepts. whether this perception is valid. And mately 20 percent of the students In a class of 78 students (66 respons- finally, students enjoyed this activity and responding said they wanted study guides es), 64 percent said active learning particularly appreciated that they had a prior to exams. We agreed and provided a improved their understanding of a con- choice in how they presented the results study guide prior to their third exam. cept presented during lecture to a great of their research. Student projects demon- Grades on the third exam improved over extent, 7 percent said they helped to a strated a level of creativity that exceeded those in the second exam (though we can- moderate extent, 28 percent said they our expectations. not claim that study guides were the sole helped to a little extent, and 1 percent said Significant grade improvements reason for the improvement). Later, when that the activities did not help at all. In a occurred in classes taught with active asked on their final class evaluation to class of 96 (86 responses), 43 percent learning techniques (fall 1999, 2000), identify the learning experiences they said active learning improved their under- compared to classes taught in spring found most valuable, 70 percent of the standing of a concept presented during 1999, where no active learning tech- students stated that the study guides were lecture to a great extent, 7 percent said niques were used. However, since no con- very helpful. The students also noted on they helped to a moderate extent, and 50 trolled experiments were run on these our final class evaluation that they felt percent said they helped to a little extent. comparisons, the class improvements can their input into class policy also made a Students also were asked to explain their be attributed only by inference to changes difference in their success. responses. It became clear that little in pedagogical techniques. Our experi- Asking for the students’ input does not extent meant that the students still had not ences suggest that students like active mean always using their suggestions. mastered the concepts, but if they did not learning and find it beneficial. Inas- However, you are responsible for com- engage in an activity, they would not have muchas the students performed as well municating to students your reactions to understood the concept at all. as, or better than, those in previous class- their suggestions and feedback. Other- Eliminating lecture material to provide es that used the lecture technique, we will wise, students may not take your requests time for active learning experiences is continue to use active learning strategies for input seriously, and your credibility as necessary. Often the information omitted in the future. an instructor might suffer. from a lecture emerged during an activity Key words: active learning, teaching or debrief. The mini-lecture combined strategies, student-teacher interaction, Document observations and results of with active learning techniques generated lecturing learning experiences in “real time.” more questions from students than when Immediately after class, or some time lectures alone were delivered. We found later in the day, jot down a few notes an increase in the number of questions, ACKNOWLEDGMENT about the learning activity. You can use the number of different students asking We would like to give special thanks to Ms. the plus/delta format for yourself—it is questions, and the quality of questions Jodi Harris for her presubmission editorial review. quick and easy to use. Identify what you after a learning activity was used. We thought worked and how you would believe active learning strategies helped REFERENCES change the experience next time. If time us to achieve our main purpose: to permits, do a plus/delta (sidebar) with increase student participation. Students Angelo, T. A., and K. P. Cross. 1993. Class- room assessment techniques: A handbook students upon completing the activity. said the class was more interesting and for college teachers. San Francisco, CA: These notes are invaluable as you plan engaging when we used active learning, Jossey-Bass, Inc., Publishers. your next class. If you don’t document compared with the class sessions during Black, K. R. 1993. What to do when you stop your experiences immediately, key which we reverted to straight lecturing. lecturing: Become a guide and a resource. insights may be lost. The mini-lecture/learning activity/ Journal of Chemical Education 70(2): 140Ð44. debrief learning cycle became a standard Findings and Next Steps Bonwell, C. C., and J. A. Eison. 1991. Active in our class, and one we think worked learning: Creating excitement in the class- Our evaluation techniques—the study well. room. ASHE-ERIC Higher Education journals, the plus/delta, and the final The plus/delta chart and the summative Report No. 1. Washington, DC: George assessment—provided us with the basic assessment indicated that besides instruc- Washington University. Claxton, C. S., and P. H. Murrell. 1987. information used to synthesize these sug- tor generated study guides, the activity Learning styles: Implications for improving gestion. The assessments also provided that most helped their learning was the educational practices. ASHE-ERIC Higher valuable insight into how students per- problem-based learning activity focused Education Report No. 4.Washington D.C.:
Vol. 50/No. 3 95 Grasha, A. F. 1996. Teaching with style: A McClanahan, E. B., and C. R. Wicks. 1993. Education 76(8):1136Ð140. practical guide to enhancing learning by Future force—kids that want to, can, and Student Learning Assessment Instrument. understanding teaching and learning styles. do! Chino Hills, CA: PACT Publishing. 2001. Retrieved January 2001 from Pittsburgh, PA: Alliance Publishers. Paulson, D. R. 1999. Active learning and
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