Calculus Lessons Are Understood Better When They Are Interactive.

 When I took calculus, the professor wrote all the notes on the board and we wrote down the notes.  There was never an idea any lesson being interactive.  Apparently, there was some research conducted to see whether students learned more in an active learning course where they solved problems in class versus sitting through a traditional lecture class. 

Furthermore, the researchers discovered that students understood complex calculus problems better and received higher grades. In addition, these results seemed to hold true across so many different racial, ethnic groups, gender, socioeconomic levels, first time and transfer students.

The study lasted over three semesters from fall 2018 to spring 2019 and involved over 800 students at a public university. Students were placed randomly in either a traditional lecture based class or in an active engagement focused  learning course.  

The active engagement based course had students working through exercises designed to build calculus knowledge during the class period. The traditional course has students sitting through a lecture class where they take notes, and work on developing understanding outside of class. In the active based class, students worked together, explaining ideas to each other because this class is having students understand the why behind calculus rather than just trying to memorize it.

Students try out their ideas, learn from their mistakes, and develop an understanding just like mathematicians. They make and test educated guesses, make sense of what they discover, and explain their reasoning to others.  In this set up, faculty play an important part in the process by asking probing questions, demonstrate mathematical strategies, monitor student progress, change the pacing, and provide activities to foster student learning.

In the past, calculus has been a barrier to people wanting to go into any STEM careers.  Only about 40 percent of the students are able to go into their choice career and it has been found that calculus is that one class that derails many students. In fact, it has been found that females are leaving the field at 1.5 times that of men, while Hispanic and Black students are likely to fail calculus at a much higher rate than white students.

This study is just the first one in the general subject. The next study needs to address barriers, lack of time, and why aren't professors allowed to bring active learning into their classrooms. Although this is a small study per say, it is a good first step.  Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.  Have a great day.