Enhancing Diversity in Undergraduate Science: Self-Efficacy Drives Performance Gains with Active Learning. Ballen, C. J., Wieman, C., Salehi, S., Searle, J. B., & Zamudio, K. R. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 16(4):ar56, December, 2017. tex.ids= ballen-CBELifeSciEduc-EnhancingDiversity-2017
Enhancing Diversity in Undergraduate Science: Self-Efficacy Drives Performance Gains with Active Learning [link]Paper  doi  abstract   bibtex   
Efforts to retain underrepresented minority (URM) students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) have shown only limited success in higher education, due in part to a persistent achievement gap between students from historically underrepresented and well-represented backgrounds. To test the hypothesis that active learning disproportionately benefits URM students, we quantified the effects of traditional versus active learning on student academic performance, science self-efficacy, and sense of social belonging in a large (more than 250 students) introductory STEM course. A transition to active learning closed the gap in learning gains between non-URM and URM students and led to an increase in science self-efficacy for all students. Sense of social belonging also increased significantly with active learning, but only for non-URM students. Through structural equation modeling, we demonstrate that, for URM students, the increase in self-efficacy mediated the positive effect of active-learning pedagogy on two metrics of student performance. Our results add to a growing body of research that supports varied and inclusive teaching as one pathway to a diversified STEM workforce.
@article{ballen_enhancing_2017,
	title = {Enhancing {Diversity} in {Undergraduate} {Science}: {Self}-{Efficacy} {Drives} {Performance} {Gains} with {Active} {Learning}},
	volume = {16},
	issn = {1931-7913},
	shorttitle = {Enhancing {Diversity} in {Undergraduate} {Science}},
	url = {https://www.lifescied.org/doi/10.1187/cbe.16-12-0344},
	doi = {10.1187/cbe.16-12-0344},
	abstract = {Efforts to retain underrepresented minority (URM) students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) have shown only limited success in higher education, due in part to a persistent achievement gap between students from historically underrepresented and well-represented backgrounds. To test the hypothesis that active learning disproportionately benefits URM students, we quantified the effects of traditional versus active learning on student academic performance, science self-efficacy, and sense of social belonging in a large (more than 250 students) introductory STEM course. A transition to active learning closed the gap in learning gains between non-URM and URM students and led to an increase in science self-efficacy for all students. Sense of social belonging also increased significantly with active learning, but only for non-URM students. Through structural equation modeling, we demonstrate that, for URM students, the increase in self-efficacy mediated the positive effect of active-learning pedagogy on two metrics of student performance. Our results add to a growing body of research that supports varied and inclusive teaching as one pathway to a diversified STEM workforce.},
	language = {en},
	number = {4},
	urldate = {2022-03-11},
	journal = {CBE—Life Sciences Education},
	author = {Ballen, Cissy J. and Wieman, Carl and Salehi, Shima and Searle, Jeremy B. and Zamudio, Kelly R.},
	editor = {Dolan, Erin L.},
	month = dec,
	year = {2017},
	note = {tex.ids= ballen-CBELifeSciEduc-EnhancingDiversity-2017},
	keywords = {Active Learning, Belonging, Higher Education, Inclusivity, STEM, Self-Efficacy, Underrepresented Minorities},
	pages = {ar56},
}

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