PROMOTING CONCEPTUAL LEARNING AND ACTIVE PARTICIPATION IN LARGE-ENROLLMENT INTRODUCTORY SCIENCE COURSES

Systematic studies of student learning in discipline-based science education research have uncovered a dramatic gap between the typical objectives of the instructions in traditional (teacher-centered) science courses and the actual level of conceptual understanding achieved by most students. There is a mounting evidence of the importance of active (student-centered) learning and social interaction for student success, and that a student-centered small-group collaborative active-learning environment is more effective for developing conceptual understanding than the traditional lecture setting. Yet due to the demographic and economic reasons the universities in North America are pressed to further increase the size of introductory science classes for science, pre-medical and engineering programs. In this talk we will discuss some activities that promote both conceptual learning and active participation of students that are effective even in a large lecture setting. As a case study, we will discuss an introductory physics course for all science majors in a mid-size urban Canadian university. This presentation will provide some insight how peer training and collaborative small-group work using both multiple-choice and open ended conceptual questions as well as activities based on in-class demonstrations exploiting cognitive conflict help turn a traditional large-class lecture setting into a more interactive, active-learning collaborative environment. We will also briefly touch upon the available technology tools (personal response systems, data logging, video-based analysis, etc.) that support the active-learning pedagogies. Robust methods of evaluating the effectiveness of the instructions have been developed in Science Education Research. Pre- and post-instruction testing using reliable instruments such as concept inventories (for example, Force Concept Inventory – FCI in case of Physics) provide quantitative data about the effectiveness of teaching strategies.