The Curious Construct of Active Learning

The construct of active learning permeates undergraduate education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), but despite its prevalence, the means different things to people, groups, STEM domains. To better understand learning, we constructed this review through an innovative interdisciplinary collaboration involving research teams from psychology discipline-based (DBER). Our examined two perspectives (i.e., DBER) surveyed current landscape instructional practices related modes traditional lecture. On that basis, concluded learning—which is commonly used communicate alternative lecture does serve a purpose higher classroom practice—is umbrella term not particularly useful advancing on learning. clarify, synthesized working definition operates within elaborative framework, which call construction-of-understanding ecosystem. A cornerstone framework learners should be agents during instruction social construction meaning plays important role for many learners, above beyond their individual cognitive knowledge. proposed offers coherent actionable concept with aim future practice education.