Getting Under the Hood: How and for Whom Does Increasing Course Structure Work?

“This type of research is being referred to as second-generation education research (Eddy et al., 2013; Freeman et al., 2014) and will help refine and optimize active-learning interventions by identifying the critical elements that make an intervention effective.”

“Yet the different racial and ethnic groups that are included in the URM designation have very different cultures, histories, and exposure to college culture that could impact whether a particular classroom strategy is effective for them (Delpit, 2006).”

“Finally, feeling like they are part of a community increases both performance and motivation, especially for historically underrepresented groups (Walton and Cohen, 2007; Walton et al., 2012).”

“…of our study, arguably as important as increased performance, because a sense of being part of a community (belonging) is crucial for retention (Hurtado and Carter, 1997; Hoffman et al., 2002) and has been 464 CBE—Life Sciences Education correlated with increased performance for…”

“Thus, through increased engagement with the material (because of increased interest in it) student performance will increase (Carini et al., 2006).”

“When discussing reasons for leaving STEM, many students, particularly students of color and women, describe feelings of isolation and lack of belonging (Hewlett et al., 2008; Cheryan et al., 2009; Strayhorn, 2011).”

“The attendance result was surprising to us, because increased attendance has been shown to be a common result of making a classroom more active (Caldwell, 2007; Freeman et al., 2007); however, these previous interventions all assigned course points to in-class participation, whereas our…”

“This intervention decreased the achievement gap between students in the Educational Opportunities Program (students from educational or economically disadvantaged backgrounds) and those not in the program by 45% (Haak et al., 2011).”

“…R©” and “The American Society for Cell Biology R©” are registered trademarks of The American Society for Cell Biology. based education research (DBER; Singer et al., 2012) suggests that it is time to move beyond simply asking whether or not active learning works to more focused questions,…”

“…as important as increased performance, because a sense of being part of a community (belonging) is crucial for retention (Hurtado and Carter, 1997; Hoffman et al., 2002) and has been 464 CBE—Life Sciences Education correlated with increased performance for first-generation students (Stephens et…”

“Thus, the model used for each question was: Survey response = Intercept + β*SATI.Comb + β*Treat. p Values were adjusted to account for false discovery rates due to multiple comparisons (Pike, 2011).”

“To be confident that any gains we observed were due to the intervention and not these other sources of variation, we controlled for both exam cognitive level (cf. Crowe et al., 2008) and student prior academic achievement (for more details see Supplemental Material, section 2).”

“Finally, feeling like they are part of a community increases both performance and motivation, especially for historically underrepresented groups (Walton and Cohen, 2007; Walton et al., 2012).”

“National trends in K–12 education, revealing different achievement patterns and trajectories for black and Latin@ students, also challenge the assumption that URMs are a homogeneous group (Reardon and Galindo, 2009).”

“This finding is supported by both work in physics (Beichner et al., 2007), which found an intervention only worked for black”

“…across contexts cannot be assumed, as there is some evidence that the success of classroom interventions depends on the student populations in the classroom (Brownell et al., 2013), instructor classroom management style (Borrego et al., 2013), and the topics being taught (Andrews et al., 2011).”

“In biology, we are not aware of any studies that have explored the response of this population to an active-learning intervention, although there has been promising work with a psychology intervention (Harackiewicz et al., 2014).”

“Unfortunately, this work is only done in active-learning classrooms, and either there is no control group (cf. Keeler and Steinhorst, 1995; Cavanagh, 2011) or the study asks students to compare their experience with a different course with a different instructor and content in which they are currently enrolled (cf.”

“This more interdependent environment also decreases anxiety and leads to increased participation in class (Fassinger, 2000) and critical thinking (Tsui, 2002).”

“…acquisition from in class to before class opens up time in the classroom for the instructor to help students develop higher-order cognitive skills (Freeman et al., 2011), providing opportunities to encourage students to make connections between course content and real-world impacts and to work…”

“and white students, and work in psychology, which revealed Asian-American students do not learn as well when they are told to talk through problems out loud (Kim, 2002).”

“Courses with more active learning are positively correlated with increased student self-reported motivation and self-efficacy (van Wyk, 2012) and a deeper approach to learning (Eley, 1992).”

“These SI programs are effective, but can be costly (Barlow and Villarejo, 2004), and because of the cost, they are often not sustainable.”

“In addition, although students grouped in the category first generation share some characteristics, they are also very different from one another in terms of culture, background, and the barriers they face in the classroom (Orbe, 2004; Prospero et al., 2012).”

“…that a change in the explanatory variable (e.g., presence or absence of the classroom intervention) has on the odds that a student will report a higher rather than a lower response (i.e., “strongly agree” vs. “agree”) averaged across all possible levels of response (Antoine and Harrell, 2000).”

“The differences between first- and continuing-generation students have been shown to change how they respond to “bestpractices” in teaching at the college level, sometimes to the extent that they respond oppositionally (Padgett et al., 2012).”

“To learn, students must feel comfortable enough to be willing to take risks and engage in challenging thinking and problem solving (Ellis, 2004).”

“Preszler (2009) replaced a traditional course (3 h of lecture each week) with a reformed course that combined 2 h of lecture with 1 h of peer-led workshop.”

“…across contexts cannot be assumed, as there is some evidence that the success of classroom interventions depends on the student populations in the classroom (Brownell et al., 2013), instructor classroom management style (Borrego et al., 2013), and the topics being taught (Andrews et al., 2011).”

“Unfortunately, this work is only done in active-learning classrooms, and either there is no control group (cf. Keeler and Steinhorst, 1995; Cavanagh, 2011) or the study asks students to compare their experience with a different course with a different instructor and content in which they are…”

“Also, most of these studies have explored the impact of supplemen- tal instruction outside an actual science course on student achievement (reviewed in Tsui, 2007; Fox et al., 2009).”

“Courses with more active learning are positively correlated with increased student self-reported motivation and self-efficacy (van Wyk, 2012) and a deeper approach to learning (Eley, 1992).”

“Many students adopt the strategy of massing their study time and cramming just before exams (Michaels and Miethe, 1989; McIntyre and Munson, 2008).”

“…active-learning classrooms, and either there is no control group (cf. Keeler and Steinhorst, 1995; Cavanagh, 2011) or the study asks students to compare their experience with a different course with a different instructor and content in which they are currently enrolled (cf. Sharma et al., 2005).”

“…across contexts cannot be assumed, as there is some evidence that the success of classroom interventions depends on the student populations in the classroom (Brownell et al., 2013), instructor classroom management style (Borrego et al., 2013), and the topics being taught (Andrews et al., 2011).”

“Many students adopt the strategy of massing their study time and cramming just before exams (Michaels and Miethe, 1989; McIntyre and Munson, 2008).”

“…with very different cultural backgrounds and experiences into broad categories such as white, Asian, Native American, and Latin@ (Lee, 2011; Carpenter et al., 2006), but disaggregating students to this level will provide a finer-grained picture of the classroom than has been previously…”

“…our intervention, previous interventions generally are not implemented within an existing course but are either run as separate initiatives or separate courses or are associated with a series of courses (i.e., involved supplemental instruction [SI]; cf. Maton et al., 2000; Matsui et al., 2003).”

“In addition, although students grouped in the category first generation share some characteristics, they are also very different from one another in terms of culture, background, and the barriers they face in the classroom (Orbe, 2004; Prospero et al., 2012).”

“backgrounds that may be at odds with the middle-class cultural norms of universities (e.g., the emphasis on abstract over practical knowledge and independence over interdependence; Stephens et al., 2012; Wilson and Kittleson, 2013).”

“White students, on the other hand, performed just as well, and in some cases better, when allowed to talk through problems (Kim, 2002, 2008).”

“These short-term results may be an underestimate of the effectiveness of the SI programs, as some studies have shown that their effectiveness increases with time (Born et al., 2002).”

“This type of research is being referred to as second-generation education research (Eddy et al., 2013; Freeman et al., 2014) and will help refine and optimize active-learning interventions by identifying the critical elements that make an intervention”

“Positive interpersonal feelings also increased the performance of Mexicans but not European Americans on a learning task (Savani et al., 2013).”

“In these studies, students of different racial/ethnic groups responded differently to the classroom interventions (Etkina et al., 1999; Beichner et al., 2007).”

“When discussing reasons for leaving STEM, many students, particularly students of color and women, describe feelings of isolation and lack of belonging (Hewlett et al., 2008; Cheryan et al., 2009; Strayhorn, 2011).”

“Only a few STEM course–based curricular interventions have disaggregated student performance (physics: Etkina et al., 1999; Hitt et al., 2013; math: Hooker, 2010; physical science: Poelzer and Zeng, 2008).”

“Based on this observation, we endorse recent appeals for researchers to disaggregate data and evaluate how course interventions impact specific subgroups of students (13, 22, 34, 59, 60).”

“Generally, each question on these instruments asked about something different and did not involve extensive use of measures of validity to ensure that researchers were, in fact, measuring what they intended to measure (Armbruster et al., 2009; Rissing and Cogan, 2009; Eddy and Hogan, 2014).”

“Further impetus for active learning has been added by evidence suggesting that active-learning strategies provide more equitable outcomes for underrepresented students in undergraduate biology education (Ballen et al., 2017; Eddy & Hogan, 2014; Haak et al., 2011).”

“In addition, what is known is largely indirect evidence, including self-reported or observational data (Herreid and Schiller, 2012; Eddy and Hogan, 2014; Halverson et al., 2014).”

“Eddy and Hogan (2014) found that increasing course structure in biology (e.g., adding guided-reading questions, in-class group activities) helped increase the reported sense of classroom community and reduced the gap in final grades between first-generation and continuing-generation students. In their study of a servi…”

“More recently, Eddy and Hogan (2014) found that a moderate course structure, which included preclass guided-reading questions and some in-class activities completed in informal groups, yielded higher exam scores compared with low course structure, especially for AfricanAmerican students and first-generation students.”

“Specifically, Eddy and Hogan (2014) found that a moderately structured, active learning approach led to students reading and studying more in the course as well as perceiving a greater sense of community.”

“Many studies show that active learning has a disproportionate benefit on the performance of groups historically underrepresented in STEM (Lorenzo et al., 2006; Eddy and Hogan, 2014; Ballen et al., 2017b; Casper et al., 2019).”

“While active-learning approaches have been shown to decrease achievement gaps among students of different social identities (Eddy and Hogan, 2014), the interaction among students in active-learning classrooms can promote greater awareness of who other students are and may exacerbate feelings of…”

“, 2006; White, 2011), although we are only aware of one study that has examined these differences specifically in STEM classrooms (Eddy and Hogan, 2014).”

“The blue instructor decreased failure rates (instances of a “C−” or lower) on exams by 41% (Eddy and Hogan, 2014) when the instructor changed from traditional lecturing to a more active-learning environment that incorporated greater use of group work in class and weekly reading quizzes.”

“…Tanner (2011) highlighted the need to develop a common language to describe what takes place when an EBIP is implemented in order to increase FOI; Eddy and Hogan (2014) studied conditions and populations for which course structure is most impactful and thus helped characterize factors that may…”

“Compared with their “majority” classmates, racially minoritized and first-generation students reap greater academic gains from active learning interventions, narrowing the achievement gap between these groups (Eddy & Hogan, 2014; Theobald et al., 2020).”

“Eddy and Hogan (2014) examined the relationship between increased course structure (a core component of active learning) and student outcomes, identifying higher levels of student preparation and a more cohesive class environment as key mediators in this relationship.”

“Do Some Groups of Students Disproportionately Benefit from Active Learning? Active learning has previously been shown to promote greater learning gains in some subpopulations, including women, first-generation college students, and URM students (Lorenzo et al., 2006; Eddy and Hogan, 2014).”

“One widely used strategy to facilitate this transformation is to provide professional development opportunities for faculty to learn about alternative approaches to teaching that have been shown to reduce attrition, improve student learning (3, 4), and reduce the achievement gap among student populations (5, 6).”

“If as little as a single sentence uttered by an instructor or a 15-min writing assignment can have an impact on student performance on an exam, studying Instructor Talk may be critically important for understanding and overcoming stereotype threat and achievement gaps that have been identified for some student populat…”

“Lessons learned from the classroom about reducing disparities can also be adapted and applied in undergraduate research experiences, such as building in structure (Freeman et al., 2011; Tanner, 2013; Eddy and Hogan, 2014).”

“Furthermore, different student populations are disproportionally affected by active-learning activities (Springer et al., 1999; Haak et al., 2011; Eddy and Hogan, 2014).”

“More structured classrooms, in which the learner is asked to read before coming to class, has activities in class, and practices outside of class, preferentially benefit women and first-generation university students (14).”

“…the most at-risk student groups, such as first-generation college attendees and those who identify with races/ethnicities historically underrepresented in STEM fields (Beichner et al., 2007; Haak et al., 2011; Eddy and Hogan, 2014; Ballen et al., 2017; Wilton et al., 2019; Bauer et al., 2020).”

“Performance and/or persistence differentials have been observed between different genders (Eddy et al., 2014; Eddy and Brownell, 2016), ethnicities (Eddy and Hogan, 2014), and those who completed different numbers of Advanced Placement (AP) courses (Ackerman et al., 2013).”

“Different instructors and/or instructional strategies can impact achievement gaps between white students and historically underrepresented groups in college STEM courses (Kreutzer and Boudreaux, 2012; Eddy and Hogan, 2014).”

“Indeed, frequent, active homework that consists of writing or problem solving is an important part of the high or moderate course structure that has been shown to reduce achievement gaps for students from underrepresented groups and to improve learning for all students (Freeman et al., 2011; Eddy and Hogan, 2014).”

“…in terms of reducing gaps in course grades, performance on concept inventories, and/or failure rates between underrepresented (in STEM) groups and majority students (Beichner, Saul, Abbott, Morse, Deardorff, Allain, & Risley, 2007; Eddy & Hogan, 2014; Haak, Hillerislambers, Pitre, & Freeman, 2011).”

“Research into active learning is still attempting to clearly identify the specific aspects of this approach that promotes learning, and the contexts in which it is more effective (but see Eddy and Hogan 2014).”

“…(e.g., Pollock and Finkelstein, 2008; Derting and Ebert-May, 2010; Freeman et al., 2011, 2014) but also contribute to increased retention rates (Russell et al., 2007; Graham et al., 2013) and a reduction in the achievement gap among student populations (Haak et al., 2011; Eddy and Hogan, 2014).”

“Random call avoids gender bias in who is heard in the classroom and thus may indirectly influence persistence in STEM (Eddy et al. 2014).”

“Moreover, moving away from a focus on content coverage may promote equity in STEM education by supporting the learning of traditionally underrepresented groups of students (Lorenzo et al., 2006; Handelsman et al., 2007; Eddy and Hogan, 2014; Freeman et al., 2014).”

“Trans Audio Speech Lang Process 14(6):2264–2274.”

“However, active learning has also been shown to present challenges for some groups of students (Eddy and Hogan, 2014; Eddy et al., 2015; Eddy and Brownell, 2016; Cooper and Brownell, 2016; Cooper et al., 2018b; England et al., 2017, 2019; Downing et al., 2020).”

“More specifically, inclusive practices that benefit all students – especially marginalised groups – include increasing course structure (Eddy and Hogan 2014), using cooperative learning (Johnson, Johnson, and Smith 2014), implementing social-belonging interventions (Walton and Cohen 2011),…”

“The effect of LAs on URMs in particular may have been influenced by affective factors promoted by LAs, such as improved sense of belonging and scientist identity (Seymour, 2000; Beasley and Fischer, 2012; Eddy and Hogan, 2014).”

“This result is perplexing, given the growing body of biology DBER literature demonstrating that active-learning practices and peer-led learning communities, two components of the intervention course, are associated with disproportionate increases in academic achievement and social– psychological metrics (Freeman et al…”

“…emphasis on practice in active-learning classrooms may therefore be contributing to the reduction in achievement gaps seen between low- and middle/high-SES students (Haak et al., 2011) as well as between first-generation and continuing-generation students (Eddy and Hogan, 2014) in these classes.”

“Texas Institute for Discovery Education in Science, College of Natural Sciences, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712 Editorial and that it works especially well for students who have been traditionally underserved (e.g., Eddy and Hogan, 2014).”

“Suggested causes often include social reasons (Rogoff, 2003; West and Zimmerman, 1987; Ceci, Williams, and Barnett, 2009) such as interest in course content (Jones, Howe and Rua, 2000; Hulleman and Harackiewicz, 2009; Diekman, Clark, Johnston, Brown and Steinberg, 2011), science identity (Cundiff, Vescio, Loken and Lo…”

“It was proposed that this kind of classroom setting was beneficial because of extra time students devoted to course material and because of a culture of community in class instead of a competitive environment (Eddy and Hogan, 2014).”

“…performance and the reduction of achievement gaps in under-represented groups in STEM, to enhanced well-being and improved classroom social climate (Eddy and Hogan, 2014; Ballen et al., 2017) – the interpersonal aspects of many of these pedagogies by definition include social elements not present…”

“…formats (which included required preparation and in-class group discussions) helped all students, but positively affected outcomes disproportionately for economically or educationally disadvantaged students (Haak et al., 2011) or Black and first-generation students (Eddy and Hogan, 2014).”

“While it is still too early to detect whether Biology FEST has altered our department’s 4- and 6-year graduation rates, previous research has suggested that active-learning approaches can disproportionately increase course performance for students from underserved groups, providing hope that our efforts will increase…”

“Furthermore, these results highlight the need for investigation at the program and national levels into why these groups perform differently (Eddy and Hogan, 2014; Wright et al. , 2016) and how programs might alter their instruction to better serve the needs of all students (National Research…”

“(Sheppard, Macatangay, Colby, & Sullivan, 2008, p. xxi) Alternative learning environments that promote these deep learning experiences have been shown to enhance academic performance for a diverse student audience (Eddy & Hogan, 2014; Freeman et al., 2007).”

“…structured courses that incorporate preclass assignments, in-class engagement activities, and/or postclass review assignments (Haak et al., 2011; Eddy and Hogan, 2014; Gavassa et al., 2019) and that increase use of active-learning approaches (Smith et al., 2011; Tsaushu et al., 2012; Theobald…”

“…learn more, persist in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields, and experience higher rates of completing their undergraduate degrees (Lorenzo et al., 2006; Haak et al., 2011; Eddy and Hogan, 2014; Freeman et al., 2014; Becker et al., 2015; Trenshaw et al., 2016).”

“This course structure has been associated with reduced failure rates and improved achievement for all students, with the largest gains for students from traditionally underrepresented groups (Freeman et al., 2011; Haak et al., 2011; Eddy and Hogan, 2014).”

“…educational systems and research on those systems, the biology education research community must consider the historical and social weight of its literature to address racism head on, as progressive articles have been doing (e.g., Eddy and Hogan, 2014; Canning et al., 2019; Theobald et al., 2020).”

“…threat” may be an underappreciated variable influencing classrooms widely, potentially driving achievement gaps that have been identified for some student populations in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses (Lauer et al., 2013; Madsen et al., 2013; Eddy and Hogan, 2014).”

“Increasing course structure has been shown to be highly supportive of learning: it reduces failure rates (Freeman et al., 2011) and increases course performance proportionately more for students from less privileged economic and social backgrounds (Eddy and Hogan, 2014).”

“Diversity of students’ races/ethnicities brings a range of cultural, historical, and educational backgrounds, and interventions should be tested for each category (Eddy and Hogan 2014).”

“For example, researchers have tested whether student characteristics influence: passing or failing a test [38] or a course [39], majoring or not majoring in physics [40], matriculating or not matriculating into medical or graduate school [41], or completing or not completing a science, technology,…”

“…material across STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) disciplines (Prince, 2004; Kuh et al., 2005; Fairweather, 2009; Singer et al., 2012; Freeman et al., 2014; Kober, 2015), and to reduce the achievement gap among student populations (Haak et al., 2011; Eddy and Hogan, 2014).”

“, 2011) and to disproportionately help certain demographic populations such as Blacks/African Americans, Hispanics, or first-generation college students (Quitadamo and Kurtz, 2007; Eddy and Hogan, 2014).”

“While active-learning approaches have generally been shown to be particularly effective for students from underrepresented groups (e.g., Eddy and Hogan, 2014), investigating the nuanced effects within particular groups of students can help instructors make effective choices (Eddy et al., 2015).”

“, first-generation students, Black, indigenous, and other students of color), suggesting they may be effective tools for increasing persistence (Eddy and Hogan, 2014; Theobald et al., 2020).”

“Because there is no one model for flipping a classroom, instructors might have different implementations, which could lead to different effects on students’ course performance, completion assigned course materials, time spent for study, and the sense of classroom community (Eddy & Hogan, 2014).”

“A study of primarily firstyear students in a large-enrollment introductory biology course found that Black students were significantly less likely to self-report that they speak up in a traditional lecture class compared to white students [40].”

“, 2007) and may be particularly beneficial for underrepresented students in the life sciences (Stephan and Stephan, 2001; Haak et al., 2011; Gasiewski et al., 2012; Eddy and Hogan, 2014).”

“This creates a more structured course and promotes academic equity among diverse students (Haak et al. 2011; Eddy and Hogan 2014; Carmichael et al. 2016; Gavassa et al. 2019; Wilton et al. 2019).”

“Research suggests that creating a structured learning environment with active learning, as exemplified in most flipped classrooms, provides better results across all demographic groups, but is especially helpful to under-represented groups and first-generation college students [8].”

“Similarly, Eddy and Hogan (2014) found significantly increased effectiveness of an active-learning intervention (use of guided-reading questions, online preclass homework, and in-class problem-solving activities) with the greatest benefits (examination points earned and course pass rates)…”

“…classes improve the overall learning of students (Freeman et al. 2014; Wieman 2014) while disproportionately benefiting students from underrepresented groups (Beichner et al. 2007; Horwitz et al. 2009; Freeman, Haak, and Wenderoth 2011; Haak et al. 2011; Eddy and Hogan 2014; Theobald et al. 2020).”

“…(Schinske et al., 2016; Dewsbury and Brame, 2019; Binning et al., 2020; Hammarlund et al., 2022) or to foster more equitable educational outcomes (Eddy and Hogan, 2014; Weatherton and Schussler, 2021), and to adopt approaches that inform systematic change toward more just institutions of higher…”