An Experimental Analysis of Lecture and Active Learning: How Dosage Amount and Dosage Schedule Affect Student Learning

The active learning literature lacks systematic investigations into whether the amount of active learning implemented in class and the ordering of lecture and active learning make a difference in how much students learn in STEM disciplines. Therefore, I investigated how the dosage amount and schedule of lecture and active learning affect student learning of science content. The first experiment involved 146 subjects who learned about biological taxonomies through either a lecture (100% lecture/0% active learning) or an active learning activity (0% lecture/100% active learning). Results indicated that subjects in the pure lecture condition scored 20.27 percentage points higher on the posttest as compared to the pure active learning condition; these results held across different question types. Further, the pure lecture condition did not significantly differ from the pure active learning condition on subjects’ judgements of learning and their satisfaction with the instructional mode they received. The second experiment involved 219 subjects who learned about biological taxonomies through a lecture, a lecture and active learning activity that were interspersed (alternation between lecture and the active learning activity), or a lecture and active learning activity that were blocked (all lecture done before the active learning activity). Results indicated that subjects in the interspersed condition scored significantly higher than subjects in the blocked and pure lecture conditions (by 10.96 and 13.95 percentage points, respectively); these results generally held across different question types. Further, the pure lecture condition was significantly lower than the interspersed and blocked conditions on subjects’ judgements of learning and their satisfaction with the lecture. Based on these two experiments, it may not be a question of whether to choose lecture or active learning but rather a question of how to integrate them to maximize their benefits.