Inclusive and active pedagogies reduce academic outcome gaps and improve long-term performance.

Publisher: Public Library of Science Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 101285081 Publication Model: eCollection Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1932-6203 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 19326203 NLM ISO Abbreviation: PLoS One Subsets: MEDLINE

Original Publication: San Francisco, CA : Public Library of Science

Biology*/education ; Educational Measurement*; Humans ; Problem-Based Learning/methods ; Students ; Universities

We assessed the impacts of the implementation of inclusive and active pedagogical approaches in an introductory biology sequence at a large, public research university in the northeast United States. We compared academic performance between these sections with other sections of the same course where didactic approaches were used over a five-year period. We also compared this five-year period (2014-2018) with the previous five years of the same courses. Additionally, we also tracked the academic performance of the students from the sections where active learning and inclusive teaching were used, as well as the more conventionally taught (lecture-based) sections in future, mandatory biology courses. We found that the inclusively taught section of the first semester of introductory biology increased the odds of students earning higher grades in that particular section. The active learning section in the second semester narrowed the ethnic performance gap when compared to similar sections, both historically and those run concurrently. Finally, students who matriculated into the inclusively taught section of biology in the first semester followed by the active learning section in the second semester of introductory biology performed better in 200-level biology courses than students who had zero semesters of either active or inclusive pedagogy in their introductory year. Our results suggest that active and inclusive pedagogies hold great promise for improving academic performance when compared to didactic approaches, however, questions remain on the most appropriate ways for capturing the impact of inclusive approaches. Implications for institutional approaches and policy are also discussed.
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

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Date Created: 20220615 Date Completed: 20220617 Latest Revision: 20220716

20221213

PMC9200326

10.1371/journal.pone.0268620

35704639