PROCEEDINGS OF THE 23RD ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH IN UNDERGRADUATE MATHEMATICS EDUCATION
2020
Boston, Massachusetts
Would you take another inquiry-based learning mathematics course? Links to students’ final exam grades and reported learning gains
Page: 868
Despite active learning’s promise for student gains across cognitive, affective, and social domains (Laursen et al., 2011), lecture-based teaching dominates instruction in college mathematics courses in the United States (Stains et al., 2018). In this study, college students enrolled in a Calculus I course responded to an inquiry-based learning (IBL) pedagogical approach via a survey that included Likert-scale items and open-ended questions. We sought to determine if there was a relationship among student performance in the class, students’ reported learning gains, and whether or not they would take another IBL mathematics course. Those who responded positively to IBL (49%) performed better on the final exam than those who responded negatively (35%). Additionally, over 55% of those who responded positively reported gains in their ability to work on mathematics collaboratively and communicate mathematical ideas whereas less than 30% of those who responded negatively to IBL reported similar gains.