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How Often Does Active Learning Actually Occur? Perception Versus Reality, Brandon J. Sheridan, Ben O. Smith

Economics Faculty Publications

I. Measuring Active and Passive Learning
There is now a robust literature touting the benefits of various active learning techniques relative to passive learning pedagogy such as lecturing (e.g., Freeman et al. 2014, Emerson and English 2016, Swoboda and Feiler 2016, Caviglia-Harris 2016). However, recent studies suggest that lecturing is still the dominant pedagogical choice in economics, even though most instructors believe that active learning methods are superior (Goffe and Kauper 2014, Watts and Schaur 2011). A limitation of these studies is that estimates of passive and active learning are based on instructors’ subjective, self-reported data.