Calling on Students Using Notecards: Engagement and Countering Communication Anxiety in Large Lecture

Broeckelman-Post, Melissa A.; Johnson, Alexandra; Schwebach, J. Reid

doi:10.2505/4/jcst16_045_05_27

Cited by 27 publications

(37 citation statements)

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“…This research re-confirmed that students experience anxiety when active learning practices are used in the classroom [24,25,26]. However, active learning techniques improve student performance in STEM courses [22], so instructors are advised to use these practices despite their potential association with anxiety.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 55%

How do undergraduates cope with anxiety resulting from active learning practices in introductory biology?

2020

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Active learning pedagogies decrease failure rates in undergraduate introductory biology courses, but these practices also cause anxiety for some students. Classroom anxiety can impact student learning and has been associated with decreased student retention in the major, but little is known about how students cope with anxiety caused by active learning practices. In this study, we investigated student coping strategies for various types of active learning (clickers, volunteering to answer a question, cold calling, and group work) that were used in 13 introductory Biology courses at a large public university in 2016-2017. A survey asked students to rate their anxiety regarding the four active learning practices and over half of the students explained the coping strategies they used to manage their active learning anxieties. Coping responses from 880 students were sorted into pre-defined categories of coping strategies: problem solving, information seeking, self-reliance, support seeking, accommodation, helplessness, escape, delegation, and isolation. We found that a different category of coping was dominant for each type of active learning. The dominant coping strategies for anxiety associated with clickers, cold calling, and group work were adaptive coping strategies of information seeking, self-reliance, and support-seeking, respectively. The dominant coping strategy for volunteering to answer a question was escape, which is a maladaptive strategy. This study provides a detailed exploration of student self-reported coping in response to active learning practices and suggests several areas that could be foci for future psychosocial interventions to bolster student regulation of their emotions in response to these new classroom practices.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 55%

How do undergraduates cope with anxiety resulting from active learning practices in introductory biology?

2020

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“…Given this, the effective introduction of active learning practices to a classroom may require some care on the part of the instructor. Consistent with this idea, anxiety levels of students in classrooms using active learning practices vary according to class and instructor (31). In the present study, instructors attempted their first formal use of active learning strategies in their classrooms, and it is likely that this newness of experience influenced how these instructors explained and implemented the strategy compared with how instructors with more active learning experience might have employed the same strategies (43).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 58%

“…Students identified social anxiety, fear of negatively impacting their final grade, awkwardness, and finding others to work with as reasons that active learning processes caused them anxiety (29). Among common active learning practices, cold calling (calling on students to answer a question rather than asking for volunteers) is considered one of the most anxiety-inducing, stemming from fear of not knowing the answer, being judged negatively by peers and teachers, and fear of public speaking (30,31). After cold calling, students often rate volunteering to answer a question, completing worksheets, and responding to clicker questions as mostto-least anxiety-inducing (29).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Some Believe, Not All Achieve: The Role of Active Learning Practices in Anxiety and Academic Self-Efficacy in First-Generation College Students

Hood

Barrickman

Djerdjian

et al. 2020

J Microbiol Biol Educ.

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First-generation college students face a variety of barriers in higher education compared with their continuing-generation peers. Active learning practices in STEM classrooms can potentially narrow the achievement gap by increasing academic self-efficacy, or confidence in academic abilities. However, these practices can also provoke anxiety in students. Given that anxiety can impair cognitive performance, we sought to understand how first-generation students perceive active learning practices and whether these perceptions affect the anticipated benefits of active learning. As part of a larger study on pedagogical practices in anatomy and physiology courses at the community college level, we asked students to rate various active learning techniques on how much each provoked anxiety and how much each contributed to their learning. All students ( N = 186) rated some techniques as more anxiety-provoking than others (e.g., cold calling); however, compared to continuing-generation students, first-generation students’ ratings tended to be higher. First-generation students anticipated doing more poorly in a course and attained lower final grades. Notably, the use of active learning practices did not improve first-generation students’ academic self-efficacy: by the end of term, academic self-efficacy decreased in non-white first-generation students whereas other students showed little change. When introducing active learning strategies, instructors may need to proactively address underrepresented minority students’ emotional reactions and ensure that all students experience success with these practices early in a course as a way to bolster academic self-efficacy.

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“…Students with high anxiety may even learn less in an active learning classroom (M. Cohen et al, 2019). Even modifying common techniques, such as cold-calling, to reduce apprehension may still lead to increased student anxiety as compared to not using such techniques (Broeckelman-Post, Johnson, & Schwebach, 2016). Similarly, such active learning has the potential to disproportionately impact underrepresented students; for instance, Cooper & Brownell, (2016) find that students in biology classes who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersexual, or asexual (LGBTQIA) report that in-class groupwork, particularly if they are not allowed to choose their own groups, can increase their stress and anxiety given that they are faced with the challenge of potentially working with students who are not accepting of their identities.…”

Section: Shape Active Learning Strategies To Minimize Anxietymentioning

confidence: 99%

Instructor strategies to alleviate student stress and anxiety in colleges and universities

Hsu¹,

Goldsmith²

2020

Preprint

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While student stress and anxiety are frequently cited as having negative effects on students’ academic performance, the role that instructors can play in mitigating these issues is often underappreciated. We provide summaries of different evidence-based strategies that instructors can employ to address and ameliorate student stress and anxiety that range from changes in instructional strategies to specific classroom interventions. We begin by highlighting ways in which instructors can learn about and prepare to act on issues of stress and anxiety. We then discuss how to better connect with students and build an inclusive, equitable, and empowering classroom environment. When coupled with strategies to change student evaluation and assessment, these approaches can collectively reduce student stress and anxiety, as well as improve student performance. We conclude by discussing the roles that instructors can play in empowering students with skills that improve their time management, studying, and approach towards learning, with an eye towards ensuring their success across all their academic endeavors.

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Calling on Students Using Notecards: Engagement and Countering Communication Anxiety in Large Lecture

Cited by 27 publications

References 0 publications

How do undergraduates cope with anxiety resulting from active learning practices in introductory biology?

How do undergraduates cope with anxiety resulting from active learning practices in introductory biology?

Some Believe, Not All Achieve: The Role of Active Learning Practices in Anxiety and Academic Self-Efficacy in First-Generation College Students

Instructor strategies to alleviate student stress and anxiety in colleges and universities

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