How some profs are overhauling college science classes. Free kindergarten expands. And a lawsuit over handcuffing young students in Kentucky.
ACTIVE LEARNING = BETTER LEARNING?
The journal Nature recently reported on a national push to teach undergraduate science courses in a way that makes students grapple with questions, not just “listen passively to answers.” The journal refers to an analysis by University of Washington lecturer Scott Freeman and others that concluded that active learning helps more students pass. (Freeman has been teaching that way for awhile now.) Nature also quotes Evergreen State College associate professor Clarissa Dirks, who is part of an initiative to reform undergraduate education in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields.