NEW YORK TIMES: The trend away from classes based on reading and listening passively to lectures, and toward a more active role for students, has its most profound effects on black students and those whose parents did not go to college, a new study of college students shows.
Active learning raised average test scores more than 3 percentage points, and significantly reduced the number of students who failed the exams, the study found. The score increase was doubled, to more than 6 percentage points, for black students and first-generation college students…
Dr. Hogan noted that disadvantaged students arrived at college with poorer study skills, and a more active approach to learning effectively teaches those skills. Research has also shown that disadvantaged students are less likely to participate in class, and report feeling intimidated or isolated, so they may benefit more from a structure that demands participation and cooperation, she said… (more)
EDITOR: Some elite prep schools utilize the Harkness approach for the humanities, with small classes of students sitting around a large rectangular table and the instructor acting more as a facilitator than a lecturer.
Instead of warding off boredom, students enjoy active participation and learning. We suspect the teachers benefit also on both accounts.
