CETL: Maryellen Weimer on Resources on Learner-Centered Teaching

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Armbruster, P., Patel, M., Johnson, E., & Weiss, M. (2009). Active learning and student-centered pedagogy improve student attitudes and performance in introductory biology. Cell Biology Education--Life Sciences Education, 8(3), 203-213.

Describes the development and implementation of an instructional design that focused on bringing multiple forms of active learning and student-centered pedagogies to a one-semester, undergraduate introductory biology course for both majors and nonmajors.

Brown, P. J. P. (2010). Process-oriented guided-inquiry learning in an introductory anatomy and physiology course with a diverse student population. Advances in Physiology Education, 34(3), 150-155.

POGIL has been implemented for 2 yr in a freshman-level anatomy and physiology course at a small private college. The course is populated with students with backgrounds ranging from no previous college-level science to junior and senior biology, biochemistry, and forensic science majors. Fifty percent of the lectures in the course were replaced with POGIL activities, performed in class by students working collaboratively in small groups. Overall course scores increased from a mean score of 76% to 89%.

Cooper, M. M., Cox, C. T., Nammouz, M., Case, E., & Stevens, R. (2008). An assessment of the effect of collaborative groups on students' problem-solving strategies and abilities. Journal of Chemical Education, 85(6), 866-872.

While a large body of research on problem solving exists, assessment of meaningful problem solving is very difficult. The authors have used a suite of software tools and pedagogies of small-group student collaborations to assess both student problem-solving strategies and student abilities as they change over time. This paper reports the use of these tools to probe the effectiveness of using small group interaction to improve problem solving.

Deslauriers, L., Schelew, E., & Wieman, C. (2011). Improved learning in a large-enrollment physics class. Science, 332(6031), 862-864.

Compared the amounts of learning achieved using two different instructional approaches under controlled conditions. Measured the learning of a specific set of topics and objectives when taught by 3 hours of traditional lecture given by an experienced highly rated instructor and 3 hours of instruction given by a trained but inexperienced instructor using instruction based on research incognitive psychology and physics education.

​Hockings, S. C., DeAngelis, K. J., & Frey, R. F. (2008). Peer-led team learning in general chemistry: Implementation and evaluation. Journal of Chemical Education, 85(7), 990-996.

Authors report that students participating in weekly peer-led study groups outperformed students not in study groups on three out of four measures of academic performance.

Lewis, S. E., & Lewis, J. E. (2005). Departing from lectures: An evaluation of a peer-led guided inquiry alternative. Journal of Chemical Education, 82(1), 135-139.

An experiment is conducted comparing two sections of general chemistry to evaluate the effectiveness of peer-led guided inquiry (PLGI) methods in terms of assisting student understanding in college-level general chemistry course. The pedagogical focus of PLGI is on student-student interactions within small groups, with a peer leader acting as a facilitator for those interactions.

Luckie, D. B., Aubry, J. R., Marengo, B. J., Rivkin, A. M., Foos, L. A., & Maleszewski, J. J. (2012). Less teaching, more learning: 10-yr study supports increasing student learning through less coverage and more inquiry. Advances in Physiology Education, 36(4), 325-335.

In this study, the authors compared gains in student content learning over a 10-year period in which the introductory biology laboratory curriculum was changed in two ways: an increase of inquiry and a reduction of content. Three laboratory formats were tested: traditional 1-wk-long cookbook laboratories, two 7-wk-long inquiry laboratories, and one 14-wk-long inquiry laboratory. 

Thiel, T., Peterman, S., & Brown, M. (2008). Addressing the crisis in college mathematics: Designing courses for student success. Change, 40(4), 44-49.

Redesigned a developmental algebra course with fewer lectures and more lab time with individual instruction. Student success in the course went from 55% to 75% with no decrease in course rigor.