Estimating the Long-term Effects of Active Learning on Undergraduate Student Learning Outcomes in Microeconomics Courses

评估主动学习对本科生微观经济学课程学习成果的长期影响

• 批准号: 2021094
• 负责人: Douglas McKee
• 金额: $ 29.83万
• 依托单位: Cornell University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-10-01 至 2024-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2021094&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Estimating; Long; term; Effects; Active

This project aims to serve the national interest in high quality undergraduate STEM education. Specifically, it intends to generate new knowledge about the impact of active learning on long term retention of knowledge. It also will examine the impacts of active learning on student learning in economics. Two educational conditions motivate this project. First, the field of economics lags behind other STEM disciplines in the implementation of active learning pedagogies in undergraduate courses and is in need of evidence about the impacts of active learning in undergraduate economics courses. Secondly, there is limited research on the impact of active learning on the retention of knowledge over the long term. Building on work supported by an active learning initiative at Cornell University, the project team will examine whether active learning pedagogies improve the learning and long-term retention of core concepts in economics. The investigation is designed to compare the retention of knowledge about key economics concepts under two conditions: a lecture only format and an active learning format. The quantitative study will examine how teaching methods (lecture only, active learning), student characteristics, and intervening course and work choices interact to affect post-course student learning outcomes. For this project, both introductory and intermediate microeconomics courses at Cornell University will be analyzed with regard to active learning implementation and outcomes. Four research questions guide the study: (1) How much do students retain in the years after course completion? (2) What role does active learning pedagogy play in students’ retention of learning? (3) What role do demographic characteristics, student work, and educational choice play in the retention of learning? And (4) How do active learning methods affect outcomes (e.g., attitudes, performance in subsequent courses, career choices) that are not directly related to the course in which the methods are used? To assess classroom activity, faculty and student activity in classrooms will be assessed using the Classroom Observation Protocol for Undergraduate STEM courses instrument. Students’ knowledge will be assessed after course completion and again one or two years later using the Principles of Economics Skills Assessment for Microeconomics and the Intermediate Economics Skills Assessment for Microeconomics. In addition, surveys will measure student attitudes towards economics and career plans. Using a pre-post longitudinal design that includes three repeated measures and regression analyses (one cohort is subject to lecture only and subsequent cohorts to active learning), the study will test the efficacy of active learning to improve the retention of core economic concepts when compared to learning outcomes from a lecture only condition. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

该项目旨在服务于高质量本科STEM教育的国家利益。 具体而言，它旨在产生关于主动学习对知识长期保留的影响的新知识。 它还将研究主动学习对学生学习经济学的影响。两个教育条件推动了这个项目。 首先，经济学领域在本科课程中实施主动学习方法方面落后于其他STEM学科，并且需要关于主动学习在本科经济学课程中的影响的证据。 其次，关于主动学习对长期知识保持的影响的研究有限。 在康奈尔大学主动学习计划支持的工作基础上，项目小组将研究主动学习方法是否能改善经济学核心概念的学习和长期保留。 调查的目的是比较两种情况下的知识保留的关键经济学概念：一个讲座只格式和主动学习格式。 定量研究将探讨如何教学方法（只讲座，主动学习），学生的特点，以及干预课程和工作的选择相互作用，影响学生的学习成果。 在这个项目中，康奈尔大学的入门和中级微观经济学课程将分析积极学习的实施和成果。四个研究问题引导研究：（1）学生在课程完成后的几年里保留了多少？ (2)主动学习教学法在学生的学习保持中起什么作用？(3)人口统计学特征、学生工作和教育选择在保持学习中扮演什么角色？以及（4）主动学习方法如何影响结果（例如，态度，在随后的课程中的表现，职业选择）与使用这些方法的课程没有直接关系？ 为了评估课堂活动，教师和学生在课堂上的活动将使用本科STEM课程仪器的课堂观察协议进行评估。 学生的知识将在课程完成后进行评估，并在一两年后再次使用微观经济学的经济学技能评估原则和微观经济学的中级经济学技能评估。 此外，调查将衡量学生对经济和职业规划的态度。使用前后纵向设计，包括三个重复测量和回归分析（一个队列只接受讲座，随后的队列进行主动学习），该研究将测试主动学习的有效性，以改善核心经济概念的保留，与仅讲座的学习成果相比。 NSF IUSE：EHR计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生STEM教育的有效性。 该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。