Significance
The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology
has called for a 33% increase in the number of science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics (STEM) bachelor’s degrees
completed per year and recommended adoption of empirically
validated teaching practices as critical to achieving that goal. The
studies analyzed here document that active learning leads to
increases in examination performance that would raise average
grades by a half a letter, and that failure rates under traditional
lecturing increase by 55% over the rates observed under active
learning. The analysis supports theory claiming that calls to increase
the number of students receiving STEM degrees could be
answered, at least in part, by abandoning traditional lecturing in
favor of active learning.