1. Provides contact between teacher and student
2. Develops reciprocity and cooperation among students
3. Encourages active learning
4. Gives prompt feedback
5. Emphasizes time on tasks
6. Communicates high expectations
7. Respects diverse talents and ways of learning


Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education 

When considering only the venue of through which a lecture is delivered, receiving a lecture in-person seems negligibly better than receiving a pre-recorded lecture online (P<.01).

Live Lecturing vs Recorded Lecturing

The authors hypothesized that highly structured course designs, which implement reading quizzes and/or extensive in-class active-learning activities and weekly practice exams, can lower failure rates in an introductory biology course, compared with low-structure course designs that are based on lecturing and a few high-risk assessments. The experimenters controlled for instructor effects by analyzing data from quarters when the same instructor taught the course, exam equivalence with new assessments called the Weighted Bloom’s Index and Predicted Exam Score, and student equivalence using a regression-based Predicted Grade. The authors also tested the hypothesis that points from reading quizzes, clicker questions, and other assignments in highly structured courses inflate. They found no evidence that points from active-learning exercises inflate grades or reduce the impact of exams on final grades. When controlled for variation in student ability, failure rates were lower in a moderately structured course design and were dramatically lower in a highly structured course design. This result supports the hypothesis that active-learning exercises can make students more skilled learners and help bridge the gap between poorly prepared students and their better-prepared peers.

Increased Course Structure Improves Performance in Introductory Biology

- There is now a great deal of evidence that lecturing is a relatively ineffective pedagoglical tool for promoting conceptual understanding. Some of this evidence is general, showing that learners at all levels gain meaningful understanding of concepts primarily through active engagement with and application of new information, not by passive listening to verbal presentations (Nation Research Council, 1999).
- This study conducted on undergraduate biology students, proposes teaching for conceptual understanding and analytical skills, while encouraging activities over factual knowledge during lecturing. A moderate shift toward more interactive and cooperative learning in class has shown to result in significantly higher student learning gains than achieved using a standard lecture format. 

Teaching More by Lecturing Less

- Providing online exams for online learners: Does it really matter for them?
- Are Exams the Best Form of Assessment?
- Traditional examinations: the best form of assessment?
- Are Examinations a Fair Way of Testing Our Knowledge?
- Could COVID-19 be our ‘There is no alternative’ (TINA) opportunity to enhance assessment?
- A critical review of student assessment options
- The Negative Influences of Exam-Oriented Education on Chinese High School Students: Backwash from Classroom to Child
- High-Stakes Testing and Students: Stopping or Perpetuating a Cycle of Failure?
- Which form of assessment provides the best information about student performance in chemistry examinations?
- Reflections on writing and identity: exploring the role of qualifying exams in the sociocultural development of doctoral students

Exam Efficacy References

Analyzes the effectiveness of passive teaching styles (i.e. lecturing or exams) on student learning. 

San Jose State University

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

- Cognitive theory of drawing construction
- Learning by conceptual level
- Expectancy-valence theory
- Self-determination Theory (SDT)
- Modes of learning
- Efficacy of Traditional Teaching Methods
- Constructivism
- Engagement
- Learning Analytics (LA)
- Community of Inquiry Framework (CoI)
- Achievement Gap in Education
- Desirable difficulties

Focuses of Learning Science

Lodish, Harvey F, & Rodriguez, Roberto K. (2004). Points of View: Lectures: Can't Learn with Them, Can't Learn without Them. Cell Biology Education, 3(4), 202–204. https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.04-07-0054

Lectures: Can’t Learn with Them, Can’t Learn without Them

Leamnson, R. (2000). Learning as Biological Brain Change. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 32(6), 34–40. https://doi.org/10.1080/00091380009601765

Learning as Biological Brain Change

Humans can only learn one or at most two conceptual levels at a time. A person is able to learn the next level of concepts only after they have a stable understanding of the original. From then on, we are able to fine tune our understanding of the lower level concepts, while our learning focus is on the next level of abstraction.

Learning by Conceptual Levels

Readers may translate text into visual information by selecting, organizing and then integrating. Graphical representations such as concept maps, flow diagrams, and tree diagrams can be used to depict the structural and conceptual relationships found in text. By generating diagrams, readers are able to leverage spatial memory to develop a coherent understanding of the text.

Cognitive Theory of Drawing Construction

People behave based on the value that they perceive doing the behavior has to them. It takes into account expectancy (effort), instrumentality (performance) and valence (value/reward).

Expectancy-Valence Theories

Efficacy of Traditional Teaching Methods

A theory of human motivation that posits that the reasons why an individual chooses to participate and exerts effort, are based on self-determined regulations (such as intrinsic motivation). It states there are 3 desires that promote optimal function and growth:
- 1) Autonomy
- 2) Competence
- 3) Relatedness

Self-determination theory (SDT)

The measure and study of sustained interaction with the medium. Engagement is different from Motivation in that it focuses on the user's willingness to continue interacting, rather than what inspires or spurs them into action.

Engagement

Learning analytics (LA) is the idea that datasets acquired through teaching or learning activities can be used to enhance student learning, academic progress, and teaching practices.

Learning Analytics

- MOOCs (massive open online courses)
- Blended Learning
- Online Learning
- Distance Learning
- E-learning

Mode of Education

The intersecting three-presence framework, consisting of Social, Teaching and Cognitive Presences, that represented all the important activities in an educational experience.  

Community of Inquiry Framework

A proposed hierarchy of understanding that can be used to evaluate a student's comprehension of a topic. From the highest level to the lowest level of understanding, they are:
- Creation / Create
- Evaluation / Evaluate
- Analysis / Analyze
- Application / Apply
- Comprehension / Understand
- Knowledge / Remember


Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning

A learning task that requires a considerable but desirable amount of effort, thereby improving long-term performance.

Examples:

- Interleaving Materials
- Spacing Studying
- Generation Effect
- Retrieval practice (testing)
- Varying Study Conditions

Desirable Difficulties

A theory that recognizes the learners' understanding and knowledge based on their own experiences prior to entering school. Rather than simply taking in knowledge, learners take the opportunity to reinforce and build their own understanding of the topic, derived from what they already know and what is being presented to them.

Constructivism (in Education)

The achievement gap is a persistent disparity in academic outcomes, such as grades, test scores, and graduation rates, observed among students from different demographic groups. These groups are often defined by ethnicity, race, and, in certain subjects, gender.

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