Use of Active versus Passive Learning Pedagogies in a Statics course to Address Variations in Student Performance between Course Sections

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Three sections of an undergraduate Statics class were taught using traditional passive classroom pedagogy where students received a standard lecture presenting the material theory followed by a short example that implemented this theory. However, up through the midterm examination, the afternoon section of the course (i.e., section 3) performed consistently lower than either of the other two sections on student assessments (e.g., homework, quizzes, the first examination, etc.). Therefore, the instructor implemented an active learning strategy after the midterm exam that consisted of the instructor presenting an example relative to the lesson topic with relevant theory introduced as necessary so that students, sometimes working as individuals, other times in groups, could complete the presented scenario and/or examples. A qualitative comparison of student perceptions before and after the midterm examination illustrate that there was an influence on student performance when comparing the implemented active versus passive learning pedagogies.

Author(s):

J. Michael Grayson Grayson    
Civil Engineering
The Citadel - The Military College of South Carolina
United States

Simon Ghanat    
Civil Engineering
The Citadel - The Military College of South Carolina
United States

Timothy A. Wood    
Civil Engineering
The Citadel - The Military College of South Carolina
United States