Active Learning vs. Traditional Lectures: A Call for Change in Education

Let's imagine you are about to participate in a session on physics. Two instructors with relevant and equal experience are providing a session on the same topic, using exactly the same materials and at the same time. However, they differ in their methods of delivery.

The instructor in lecture format will be presenting information through slide presentations, detailed explanations, and demonstrations as you capture the major points provided in the handouts they give.

However, in an active learning session, the instructor does not solve the example problems before the learners. They divide the class into small groups and ask them to solve the problems themselves. The instructor talks with the groups, asks questions, and gives tips. Then, they explain the answers when everyone reviews them together.

Now, take a moment and choose which delivery format you prefer: active learning or lectures. Which class will you attend?

I won't try to guess which option you've chosen, but according to research, the majority of people tend to choose the lecture-based approach.

I asked myself, "Why?"

And you know, I quickly found an answer for myself. At school and university, the lecture-based format was the most common. We watch the news, follow bloggers on YouTube/TikTok, view Instagram Reels and more. Even going to church and listening to a pastor is a form of lecture. All these activities form a habit.

From the study, that was mentioned before, students in physics classes were surveyed at the end of each class to measure their feelings of learning (FOL) and then completed a test of learning (TOL) with multiple-choice questions.

It's interesting to see that participants in lectures felt they learned more, found the instructor more effective, and even wished all physics courses were taught like that, in comparison to active learning. However, the results indicated that although students believed they learned more during lectures, they actually acquired more knowledge through active learning.

So I decided to delve deeper and found another study. It showed that active learning significantly improves student performance in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) disciplines compared to traditional lecturing. On average, students did almost half as better (0.47) on tests and assessments when they used active learning compared to traditional methods. Moreover, the failure rate under traditional lecturing was 1.5 times higher than with active learning, with a notable 55% increase in failure rates from active learning to lecturing.

So, we as humans tend to choose the lecture-based approach, allowing others to demonstrate their skills while we stop thinking for ourselves. Social scientists refer to this phenomenon as the "awestruck effect".

I'm not suggesting that we should completely forget about lectures, especially since research has been mostly focused on STEM fields. My main question is, despite all the scientific research and evidence, why do we continue to rely on lectures?

"In North American universities, more than half of STEM professors spend at least 80 percent of their time lecturing, just over a quarter incorporate bits of interactivity, and fewer than a fifth use truly student-centered methods that involve active learning."

When discussing training with employees, they often expect it to follow a lecture-based format. This leads to a cycle where L&D departments provide lecture-based training. While employees might enjoy this, it often doesn't lead to the best outcomes.

Here, we need to focus on shifting mindsets, and it's a task we must undertake together.

Conclusion

When I began transitioning to active learning, I encountered numerous challenges. Participants started dropping out of sessions as soon as we shifted towards discussions or questions. There were issues with infrastructure and scalability, among other things. However, it's important to note that these challenges can be overcome. It might not be a quick fix, but it's definitely possible. Addressing these issues, however, is a topic worthy of its own article.

A few weeks ago, one of our employees said to me, "Thank you, Maksim, for making me fall in love with learning." Hearing this, I realized it was the first sign of a shift in mindset, and it's precisely the kind of work I want to be doing.

I have a homework assignment for you. Please read the research mentioned in this article, share it with your colleagues, and discuss the benefits of different learning formats with them.

All significant changes begin with small steps, and together, we can make these changes happen.

Thank you for spending your time reading this article. Talk to you in 2 weeks.

If you'd like to discuss this or any other L&D-related topic, feel free to schedule a 1-1 meeting with me.