STEM courses are often plagued by high attrition rates, especially in introductory classes. But new research sheds light on ways to reduce attrition and increase pass rates for students in rigorous STEM courses. The research was published in the National Academy of Sciences and authored by researchers at the University of Washington and the University of Maine. The study compares failure rates of students whose courses used some form of active learning methods against students in traditional, lecture-based courses.

The results are nothing short of stunning:

·  Performance on exams increased by as much as 6% using active learning, and students could earn a ½ letter grade improvement

·  The chance of failure in lecture course was 1.5 times higher (students were 55% more likely to fail in traditional lecture)

The study was a meta-analysis of 225 studies of undergraduate education in the STEM disciplines, removing the concern that the findings could be the result of other factors.

We believe that engaging students actively by having them participate in learning by doing, rather than passively observing and listening, yields better outcomes for the student.

What do you think? Is this the research on active learning that we’ve been waiting for? What is holding you back from implementing active learning methods in your classroom? Join the conversation with us on Twitter and Facebook with the hashtag #activelearning.