Student resistance to active learning: do instructors (mostly) get it wrong?

ABSTRACT

Adopting evidence-based teaching practices, such as active learning, has proven to increase student learning, engagement, and interest in STEM and subsequently, the number and diversity of STEM graduates. Despite these compelling findings, the translation of educational research to classrooms has been slow, in part due to instructors’ concerns about student resistance.

To better understand STEM instructors’ and students’ attitudes and behaviours regarding active learning, we administered surveys to instructors and their students and conducted classroom observations. The instructor survey measured their attitudes towards & use of active learning, strategies used to reduce student resistance, and perceptions of student behaviour. The corresponding student survey asked students to evaluate their instructors’ teaching practices, as well as students’ own attitudes and behaviours during class that day. Classroom observations supplemented these metrics.

Analyses of matched survey datasets (n = 27, n = 758) and observations (n = 13) reveal a disconnect between instructor perceptions of their students’ responses to active learning and students’ self-reported attitudes and behaviours, where instructors overestimate student resistance. In contrast, students report they see value in the activities, enjoy them, and even plan to highly evaluate the course and instructor. Overall, these results suggest that instructors’ fears about adopting these teaching practices are largely erroneous.

KEYWORDS:

• Active learning
• higher education
• instructional change
• adoption

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation under grant numbers DUE-1821092, DUE-1821036, DUE-1821488, and DUE-1821277. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Data Availability Statement

The datasets generated and analyzed during the current study are not publicly available but are available from the corresponding author ([email protected]) on reasonable request.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation [1821092]; National Science Foundation [1821277]; National Science Foundation [1821488]; National Science Foundation [1821036].

Notes on contributors

Madison E. Andrews

Madison E. Andrews is a doctoral student in STEM Education and Graduate Research Assistant for the Center for Engineering Education at the University of Texas at Austin. She received her B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Clemson University in 2017 and her M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin in 2020.

Matthew Graham

Dr. Matthew Graham is assistant research faculty in the Oregon Education Science Laboratory at the University of Oregon. His research has focused on the relation between educational psychology and issues of equity and inclusion. Dr. Graham holds a Ph.D. in Critical and Sociocultural Studies in Education from the University of Oregon.

Michael Prince

Dr. Michael Prince is a professor of chemical engineering at Bucknell University.  He is the author of over 100 education-related papers for engineering faculty, with a particular focus on active and inductive teaching strategies.  His current research examines how to increase the diffusion of research-based instructional practices in both academic and corporate settings.  In 2005 he received the ASEE Mid-Atlantic Section Outstanding Teaching Award, was honored in 2008 with Bucknell University’s Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching and in 2010 he received the Hutchison medal from the Institute of Chemical Engineers.  In 2012 he was appointed to be the Rooke Professor in Engineering.  He attained the rank of Fellow of the American Society of Engineering Education in 2016.

Maura Borrego

Dr. Maura Borrego is Director of the Center for Engineering Education and Professor of Mechanical Engineering and STEM Education at the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Borrego is a Fellow of the American Society for Engineering Education and a Senior Associate Editor for Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering. She previously served as Deputy Editor for Journal of Engineering Education, a Program Director at the National Science Foundation, and on the board of the American Society for Engineering Education. Her research awards include U.S. Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), a National Science Foundation CAREER award, and two outstanding publication awards from the American Educational Research Association for her journal articles.

Cynthia J. Finelli

Dr. Cynthia Finelli is Professor of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, Professor of Education, and Director of Engineering Education Research at University of Michigan. In her research she focuses on increasing faculty adoption of evidence-based instruction. Dr. Finelli is a Fellow of both the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE). She is also a member of the Governing Board of the Research in Engineering Education Network, member of the Steering Committee for the IEEE/ASEE Frontiers in Education Conference, past deputy editor for the Journal of Engineering Education, and past associate editor for the IEEE Transactions on Education, She founded the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching in Engineering at University of Michigan in 2003 and served as its Director for 12 years. Dr. Finelli earned the B.S.E., M.S.E., and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from University of Michigan.