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ABSTRACT Active learning is a phrase that lacks clear definition, which has hampered researchers’ efforts to investigate the nuances of effectiveness and instructors’ efforts to capitalize on potential benefits for students. One way to advance our understanding of “active learning” is assessing by the type of intellectual work that in-class activities require of students. We systematically analyzed in-class work opportunities created for students in 55 introductory biology courses around the United States, each of which used active learning. We did so by adapting an observation approach grounded in the ICAP framework and analyzing classroom videos in 15-s segments. Instructors devoted about a quarter of class time to student work time, on average, but this varied widely. About half of these student work opportunities focused on recall, and half required students to generate answers beyond what had been presented to them, which can foster deeper learning and better transfer than recall alone. The ratio of these levels of intellectual work varied considerably across courses. We also tested whether course- and instructor-level factors predicted the amount and level of active-learning opportunities and found no significant relationships. This work provides a striated definition of active learning that will be useful to researchers studying active-learning outcomes and instructors aiming to harness learning benefits for their students. 

What instructors say during class—beyond content—has promise for supporting students’ perceptions that they are supported, connected, and valued in the classroom, which in turn predict positive outcomes in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. We studied noncontent Instructor Talk used by 56 introductory biology instructors around the United States and how it related to sense of belonging among over 4900 students in their courses. Using hierarchical linear modeling, we identified positive relationships between some—but not all—categories of Instructor Talk and belonging among students. Instructor talk aimed at building relationships with students and explaining pedagogical choices had positive relationships with students’ sense of connectedness to peers (for both) and comfort seeking instructor help (for the former), but not their comfort sharing ideas with the class. Using effect coding, we probed whether these relationships differed for students with 14 intersectional identities, including men and women from seven racial and ethnic groups. Relationships between Instructor Talk categories and components of belonging varied in their direction and magnitude for students with different intersectional identities. Findings demonstrate that even simple instructor actions—particularly language—may be meaningful to students, but we cannot assume that all students experience these actions the same way. 

Active learning can enhance student outcomes in STEM higher education, but its effectiveness varies with implementation. A key contributor to this variation is the pedagogical knowledge held by instructors. However, little is known about instructors’ pedagogical knowledge of how people learn, how these ideas develop over time, and how knowledge development influences active-learning implementation. This longitudinal qualitative study examined variation, development, and instructional implications of pedagogical knowledge among 11 early-career undergraduate life sciences instructors in the context of their active-learning instruction. We conducted semistructured interviews, including stimulated recall, capturing pedagogical knowledge used to plan, implement, and reflect on a lesson, repeating this process across multiple semesters. We used qualitative content analysis and an analytical framework to identify distinct pedagogical ideas about how people learn used by instructors and their alignment with passive, active, and generative cognitive engagement in the ICAP framework. Longitudinal comparisons revealed that participants did not consistently develop ideas aligned with generative cognitive engagement, indicating that teaching experience is necessary but insufficient to foster development of crucial pedagogical knowledge for effective active learning. Case studies illustrated how knowledge development can influence nuances of active-learning design and implementation. We discuss potential mechanisms of knowledge development and instructional implications. 

Sense of belonging supports student success in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), yet prior research indicates that systemic inequities shape who feels included in college classrooms. Racism, sexism, and classism can shape students’ belonging, which then can impact their outcomes. We studied students’ sense of belonging in 56 large introductory biology courses that used active learning, reaching more than 4900 students. We used a QuantCrit methodological framework and hierarchical linear models to examine how the intersection of racism and sexism, and racism and classism, related to three components of students’ belonging. Racism impacted groups differently, and its impact varied across intersecting identities and components of belonging. Sexism undermined women's comfort sharing ideas in class and seeking instructor help across racial/ethnic groups. Women in some racial/ethnic groups experienced greater connectedness to classmates than men. Classism diminished students’ sense of belonging across most racial/ethnic groups. Disaggregating students into more racial/ethnic groups revealed important differences in the experiences of Native American, Latiné, Black/African, and two groups of Asian students. These findings demonstrate that within the same classroom, students can have profoundly different experiences and challenge us to recognize the influence of intersecting forms of oppression on our students. 

Effective teaching requires teachers to leverage their knowledge of how students think about and learn specific topics (i.e., pedagogical content knowledge). This longitudinal qualitative study of early-career biology instructors examines the development of this specialized teaching knowledge. 

Instructor discourse, defined as verbal interactions with students in the classroom, can play an important role in student learning. Instructors who use dialogic discourse invite students to develop their own ideas, and both students and the instructor share ideas in back-and-forth exchanges. 

Abstract Here, we systematically review research on teaching knowledge in the context of undergraduate STEM education, with particular attention to what this research reveals about knowledge that is important for evidence-based teaching. Evidence-based teaching can improve student outcomes in undergraduate STEM education. However, the enactment of promising evidence-based teaching strategies depends greatly on the instructor and potentially on the teaching knowledge they are able to deploy. The review includes an overview of prevalent teaching knowledge theory, including pedagogical content knowledge, mathematical knowledge for teaching, and pedagogical knowledge. We compare and contrast teaching knowledge theory and terminology across STEM disciplines in order to build bridges for researchers across disciplines. Our search for peer-reviewed investigations of teaching knowledge in undergraduate science, engineering and mathematics yielded 45 papers. We examined the theoretical frameworks used in each study and analyzed study approaches, comparing across disciplines. Importantly, we also synthesized findings from research conducted in the context of evidence-based teaching. Overall, teaching knowledge research is sparse and siloed by discipline, and we call for collaborative work and better bridge-building across STEM disciplines. Though disciplinary divergences are common in discipline-based education research, the effect is magnified in this research area because the theoretical frameworks are themselves siloed by discipline. Investigations of declarative knowledge were common, and we call for increased attention to knowledge used in the practice of teaching. Finally, there are not many studies examining teaching knowledge in the context of evidence-based teaching, but the existing work suggests that components of pedagogical content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and content knowledge influence the implementation of evidence-based teaching. We describe implications for future teaching knowledge research. We also call on those who develop and test evidence-based strategies and curriculum to consider, from the beginning, the teaching knowledge needed for effective implementation. 

College instructors faced a rapid transition to remote instruction in spring 2020, and with it a host of new teaching challenges. This qualitative study investigates what 26 college biology instructors learned about students and teaching during this time. We used semi-structured interviews and content analysis to identify instructor learning that is relevant beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants described two related insights about students: They became more aware that students' lives outside the classroom are complex, and they realized that their campus can act as a neutralizing space for students. Participants also reconsidered how they assess student learning. New realizations about students and teaching have the potential to impact teaching practices when in-person instruction resumes. Especially promising is an increased focus on students as individuals and the recognition that not all students experience life and courses in the same way. We relate findings to existing research and propose self-reflection questions that these findings raised for us