Improved learning in a large-enrollment physics class
Deslauriers, Schelew & Wieman · Science, 2011
A switch to active sessions roughly doubled scores in a large physics class.
We compared the amounts of learning achieved using two different instructional approaches under controlled conditions. One section of a large introductory physics course was taught by an experienced, highly rated instructor using traditional lecture; a parallel section was taught using deliberate practice and active engagement, run by a trained but inexperienced instructor. Over the course of a single week, attendance, engagement, and learning more than doubled in the experimental section, with students scoring roughly twice as high on a test of the material covered.
