A COMPARISON OF INQUIRY-BASED LEARNING METHODS VS. TRADITIONAL LECTURES ON STUDENT PERFORMANCE IN LARGE EARTH SCIENCE COURSES

Teaching strategies that promote higher-level learning processes were incorporated into large (150 student) sections of an introductory Earth Science course at the University of Akron in Fall semester 2000. A team of faculty shared responsibility for reorganizing the course into ten modules of 3 or 4 lessons each built around an inquiry-based learning (IBL) model. Classroom activities in the IBL sections were restructured to increase student-student interaction and promote active learning. Some basic content was presented solely through student readings and basic knowledge was evaluated daily through reading quizzes. Lecture was broken into short segments of 10-20 minutes, separated by formative assessment exercises that involved students working in cooperative groups (2-4 students). A variety of classroom assessment techniques were used to evaluate basic knowledge, and to encourage critical and creative thinking. The exercises took a variety of forms including making observations, analyzing data, constructing diagrams and concept maps, evaluating articles or editorials, and applying knowledge to answer conceptual multiple choice questions (conceptests) and open-ended questions.

Two classes were taught by the same instructor using contrasting teaching methods (inquiry-based learning vs. "traditional" lectures). Quantitative student evaluations of the instructor were almost identical between sections. Summative assessments were modified from wholly multiple choice tests to combinations of multiple choice/short answer exams. Short answer questions accounted for approximately 16% of total exam grades. Multiple choice questions were separated into purely content-based questions and interpretation questions that required students to apply what they had learned to new situations. Although less content was presented in the IBL classes, student performance on the content portion of the multiple-choice exams averaged a few percentage points higher than in the traditional lecture section. Scores on the short answer questions alone were 7% higher in the IBL section. Student retention was greater in the active learning section; 11% of students dropped the "traditional" class, whereas 6% dropped the active learning section.