Author(s):
Need: Exploratory learning is an active-learning technique that has been shown to improve students’ conceptual understanding. Exploratory learning reverses the typical order of instruction, by having students explore a novel activity prior to instruction. This project tests the causal effectiveness of exploratory learning in five first- and second-year undergraduate STEM courses (biology, chemistry, physics, calculus, and engineering) taught by 11 faculty over 3 years. This project also examines learning mechanisms supporting exploratory learning, and the impact of using this active-learning method on underrepresented students’ learning and motivation. In addition to measuring student outcomes, this project uses qualitative methods to study how instructors’ professional identities and perspectives on teaching and learning evolve as they use exploratory learning.Guiding Questions: This research is guided by two primary questions: (1) Does exploratory learning improve conceptual understanding on learning assessments, compared to instruct-then-practice conditions, in undergraduate STEM courses? (2) How does a faculty learning community support professional development and use of exploratory learning methods? This presentation will focus on the first objective.Outcomes: For each of three years, we tested exploratory learning with two different topics in all 11 faculty classrooms. Students were randomly assigned to explore-first or instruct-first conditions, and completed surveys and learning assessments. For this presentation, learning and survey data will be presented from two studies in one course (Introduction to Engineering). In Experiment 1, students who completed an exploratory learning activity before instruction showed lower learning outcomes than students who completed the activity as practice after instruction. In Experiment 2, we iterated the exploration and instruction to reduce cognitive load, and found significant benefits of exploring before instruction. Various motivational scales on the survey mirrored the learning outcomes in both studies. These results demonstrate an important principles for designing exploratory learning activities. In order to conceptually benefit from exploration, students might need to explore smaller conceptual units at a time, iterated with instructional guidance. Broader Impacts: Over 3000 students participated in two exploratory learning activities in their introductory STEM courses. Our studies demonstrate the importance of developing instructional interventions to both target and assess conceptual understanding. By improving conceptual understanding, students may better integrate content across a course and build an important foundation for future learning and the workplace. Thus, exploratory learning offers an important potential method to improve knowledge, participation, and persistence in STEM fields. Evidence from these studies will be used to build a theoretical framework including characteristics needed to design exploration activities. This framework, and the exploration activities and assessments developed, will be available on a project website. By examining the qualitative aspects that lead faculty to endorse adopting evidence-based strategies, the project’s results will improve understanding of how to make professional development activities more impactful.
Coauthors
Marci DeCaro, University of Louisville, Ryan Patrick, University of Louisville, Campbell Bego, University of Louisville, Angela Thompson, University of Louisville, Jeffrey Hieb, University of Louisville, Linda Fuselier, University of Louisville, Raymond Chastain, University of Louisville, Lianda Velić, University of Louisville
