True Grit: Passion and persistence make an innovative course design work

Our first two experiments on adapting a high-structure course model to an essentially open-enrollment university produced negative or null results. Our third experiment, however, proved more successful: performance improved for all students, and a large achievement gap that impacted underrepresented...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PLoS biology 2019-07, Vol.17 (7), p.e3000359-e3000359
Main Authors: Casper, Anne M, Eddy, Sarah L, Freeman, Scott
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Achievement
Active learning
Biology
Biology and Life Sciences
Cell division
Cognition & reasoning
Cognitive ability
Colleges & universities
Curriculum - standards
Educational Measurement - methods
Educational technology
Empathy
Engineering
Experiments
Faculty - psychology
Faculty - statistics & numerical data
Grit
Humans
Mathematics
People and Places
Problem-Based Learning - methods
Research and Analysis Methods
Scholarships & fellowships
Science education
Social Sciences
Students
Students - psychology
Students - statistics & numerical data
Teaching methods
Universities
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Summary:Our first two experiments on adapting a high-structure course model to an essentially open-enrollment university produced negative or null results. Our third experiment, however, proved more successful: performance improved for all students, and a large achievement gap that impacted underrepresented minority students under traditional lecturing closed. Although the successful design included preclass preparation videos, intensive active learning in class, and weekly practice exams, student self-report data indicated that total study time decreased. Faculty who have the grit to experiment and persevere in making evidence-driven changes to their teaching can reduce the inequalities induced by economic and educational disadvantage.
ISSN:1545-7885
1544-9173
1545-7885
DOI:10.1371/journal.pbio.3000359