Improving student learning in large classes by incorporating active learning with a new design of teaching slides

Recent tests have shown that using teaching slides with sentence headlines supported by visual evidence can significantly improve the transfer and retention of knowledge in large classes. However, some students will not attend class because these slides, when posted as notes, serve as a strong summary of the class. This paper presents the testing of active learning measures incorporated with this new slide design in a large geosciences course. One course section learned from the traditional slides, while a second learned from the new slides with active learning strategies. These strategies, which were fill-in-the-blank notes and a graded in-class activity, were used to encourage attendance. The same instructor taught both sections, in the same classroom, at the same semester time slot. The only differences for the second section included the new slides, the active learning measures, and a larger class size. An exam at the end of six classes revealed that the average score for the traditional slides was 66% correct, while the average score for the new slides with active learning was 71% on sixteen identical questions ? a statistically significant increase (p ≤ 0.01). Additionally, the new slides with active learning led to statistically significant (p ≤ 0.001) increases in attendance.