Systematic Inquiry of Teaching Project The Effects of Active Learning Techniques on Student Performance and Content Retention Matt Steffenson

Clicker Questions Student attention span Clicker questions reduce attention decline (Bunce et al. 2010) Increases student engagement (Smith et al. 2010) Obtain feedback to modify lecture progression How well students understand content (Sevian and Robinson 2011)

Ebbinghaus’ Forgetting Curve

Effect of Repetition

Questions Do active learning and formative assessment techniques increase student test scores? How effective is repetition of formative assessment in helping students retain information?

Methods Clicker questions throughout class Repeated same clicker questions at end of every unit Concept map exercise after every unit

Results

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Conclusions Exam scores increased when active learning and formative assessment techniques were utilized. Student retention of material pre- and post-clicker questions was variable.

Future Directions Continuing clicker questions Vocabulary lists to replace concept maps Dyads Quiz-quiz-pass/concept map review

Questions?

Literature Cited Bunce, D.M., Flens, E.A., and Neiles, K.Y. 2010. How long can students pay attention in class? A study of student attention decline using clickers. Journal of Chemical Education 87: 1438-1443. Sevian, H., and Robinson, W.E. 2011. Clickers promote learning in all kinds of classes – small and large, graduate and undergraduate, lecture and lab. Journal of College Science Teaching 40: 14-18. Smith, M.K., Trujillo, C., and Su, T.T. 2010. The benefits of using clickers in small-enrollment seminar-style biology courses. Life Sciences Education 10: 14-17.