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Table 4 Categories (Positive, Negative, and Constructive) and subcategories identified in student responses to the prompt “Please describe your experiences with active learning in the classroom.” Number of responses in each subcategory are included in parentheses after a sample comment

From: Graduate- and undergraduate-student perceptions of and preferences for teaching practices in STEM classrooms

Categories

Undergraduate comments

Graduate comments

Positive

 Active learning makes the class engaging

I personally prefer active learning in the classroom. It's difficult for me to focus during long lectures so having an activity to direct my attention to helps me better apply the material I have learned and understand what I need improvement on. (85)

Active learning broke the class into small groups to work on a problem together. I felt I got to use the material rather than passively take it in … (14)

 Active learning is beneficial

In a previous math class, there was a significant amount of active learning, with very engaging exercises and significant in-class participation. Although I was off-put at first by how different the class was at first, I feel now as though I retained and ultimately was much more successful in that course than in others due to the number of activities we went through. (380)

Even graduate students benefit from active learning so I wish it was used more in these higher-level courses! (62)

 Active learning helps with content retention

When implemented correctly (not just clicker-question based), I find active learning to be helpful and good for long term information retention. (88)

Active learning classrooms are harder but I do retain and learn the information much better and still recall things years later. (16)

 Active learning builds community

[Active learning] can be a great way to connect with other students and build community. (56)

[Through active learning], I got to know my classmates better, which made coming to class much more enjoyable. (7)

 Active learning helps with real world work environment

I do not necessarily enjoy active learning and I often hate working in groups, but I understand that it is an important skill to learn and I understand why active learning is important. (9)

Active learning is essential as it helps to understand the concepts, retention of information and how to use the acquired knowledge in real life situation. (1)

Negative

 Active learning limits individual thinking and learning

Active learning doesn't help me, personally, in the classroom. I learn best by watching, taking notes, and reviewing and quizzing myself on the material on my own time. I like things like clickers, to make sure I understand a concept, but otherwise, non-lecture classrooms keep me from focusing on what I need to learn. (75)

I am not a person that functions well in group settings. I learn much better by figuring out the problem on my own and discussing questions at my own pace with the lecturer. (7)

 Professor does not teach using an active-learning approach correctly

Sometimes it's helpful, sometimes it's not. It really depends on the engagement of the professor with the students and the discussions between group members. (117)

We are paying a lot of money for the expertise of the instructors and their presentation of the information through a traditional lecture. Active learning is guided in concept. But in practice it is mostly the students teaching themselves. And if I wanted that, to teach myself, or learn from other clueless students, I either wouldn't pay this much tuition or I wouldn't go to class. (10)

 Active learning should only be used in certain fields

In the introductory courses, I found active learning to be a great way to learn concepts through practice. However, while I have enjoyed its usage as a teaching method, I feel that active learning may not be the best teaching/learning strategy for every course. (25)

I feel as though active learning is appropriate for some classes, but not in others. Sometimes I understand lecture material better when it is simply presented by the teacher, and other times active learning is necessary to better understand concepts. I think it really depends on the course. (5)

 Current active-learning methods are a “waste of time”

Active learning is so terrible. [Name of College] thinks it is the best thing in the universe, but there really is no benefit besides me hating my group. also, that basically means the professors don't actually have to teach, which means no learning is done besides busy work. (98)

Once you get to high-level (graduate-level) courses, these [active learning techniques] become a waste of time. You no longer need to “trick” highly motivated PhD students into learning. (14)

Constructive

 Active learning works when people are prepared to collaborate

if a professor is not prepared well, it does not go well. If other students are not participating, it does not go well. (50)

In general, however, the best types of active learning for me are those that require me to work with the material independently (problem sets, games, written reflections, etc.), and not necessarily debates or discussions. However, this is mostly because I can't rely on my peers to have done enough homework or reading to maintain a valuable debate. (16)

 Active learning only works in smaller classes.

I have enjoyed the use of active learning in all my science classes especially the smaller classes. In my largest class it did feel like more of a way to track attendance and get points than to actually learn the material. (16)

I do NOT like activities for the sole purpose of having ‘active learning...The active learning I did enjoy occurred in small classes, when either questions were encouraged during lectures or we had to solve cases as a class with the professor as a resource. (3)

 Effective active learning is desirable

I don't like how active learning is done currently in class, but I think the idea has potential. If it didn't involve so much busy work or multitasking, I would love it a lot more. Additionally, I don't think active learning should replace lectures, but instead work alongside them. (116)

The combination of very well-presented thorough material and explanations in lectures with a couple minutes (i.e. short activities) to work with the concepts/material independently was much, much, much more useful and helped me to learn. (18)

 Active learning works well when supplementing other methods

When students have to go to several lecture-based classes during the day, it is easy for them to start tuning out the teacher. If active learning were used in addition to the lecture, it would be harder for students to tune out because they have to be listening in preparation for an activity being done later in the class. Class time would be more enjoyable and engaging if some element of active learning were involved. (75)

I think active learning can be useful, however, I think the combination of traditional lectures and labs accomplishes the needs of active learning. Often, active learning activities in the classroom don't result in the creation of useful documentation that can be consulted before exams (6)