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Increasing the effectiveness of active learning using deliberate practice: A homework transformation

Kelly Miller1, Kristina Callaghan2, Logan S. McCarty2,3, and Louis Deslauriers2,*

  • 1School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA
  • 2Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA
  • 3Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA

  • *To whom correspondence should be addressed. louis@physics.harvard.edu
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Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. 17, 010129 – Published 23 April, 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.17.010129

Abstract

We show how learning can be improved, beyond that shown in actively taught classrooms, by also transforming the homework using the principles of deliberate practice. We measure the impact of transforming the homework on student learning in a course that had already implemented an active approach to teaching in class. We compare performance on the same final exam in equivalent cohorts of students over three semesters of an introductory physics course: the first taught with traditional lectures and traditional homework, the second taught with active instruction coupled with traditional homework, and the last taught with both active instruction and transformed homework. We find students in the semester where both active teaching and transformed homework are used scored significantly higher on the final exam than the students taught actively but with traditional homework. This learning gain achieved by transforming the homework is comparable to that achieved by replacing traditional lectures with active teaching strategies in class. We further show the positive effects of transforming the homework on student learning through a shorter, controlled experiment. When everything but the homework implementation is controlled, students scored 5%–10% higher on a test of learning following transformed homework compared with traditional homework. This significant improvement to learning occurs despite students spending a similar amount of time on task. This study represents an initial step towards understanding how deliberate practice can be extended to improve pedagogy beyond what happens in the classroom to the out-of-class homework.

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Outline

Information

Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. 17, 010129– Published 23 April, 2021
  • Received 1 November 2020
  • Accepted 5 March 2021
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.

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