PROMOTING CONCEPTUAL LEARNING AND ACTIVE PARTICIPATION IN LARGE-ENROLLMENT INTRODUCTORY SCIENCE COURSES

Systematic studies of student learning in discipline-based science education research have uncovered a dramatic gap between the typical objectives of the instructions in traditional (teacher-centered) science courses and the actual level of conceptual understanding achieved by most students. There is a mounting evidence of the importance of active student-centered learning and social interaction for student success, and that student-centered small-group collaborative active learning environment is more effective for developing conceptual understanding than the traditional lecture setting. Yet, due to the demographic and economic reasons the universities in North America are pressed to further increase the size of introductory science classes in science, pre-medical and engineering programs. In this paper we will discuss some activities that promote both conceptual learning and active student participation which are effective even in a large lecture setting. As a case study, we will discuss an introductory physics course for all science majors in a large urban Canadian university. This paper will provide some insight how peer training and collaborative small-group work using both conceptual questions as well as activities based on in-class demonstrations help turn a traditional large-class lecture setting into a more interactive, active-learning collaborative environment. We will provide examples of the available technology tools (personal response systems (clickers), video-based analysis and data logging) that support the active-learning pedagogies. Robust methods of evaluating the effectiveness of the instructions have been developed in Physics Education Research (PER). Pre- and post-instruction testing using reliable instruments such as concept inventories (for example, Force Concept Inventory - FCI in case of Physics) can provide quantitative data about the effectiveness of teaching strategies.