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written by Katelyn M. Cooper, Virginia R. Downing, and Sara E. Brownell
Over the past decade, the prevalence of anxiety has increased among college-aged students and college counseling centers have become increasingly concerned about the negative impact of anxiety on students. While college in general can be stressful, college science classrooms have the potential to be especially anxiety-inducing because of the sometimes chilly and competitive environment of the class. Further, college science courses are increasingly being transitioned from traditional lecture to active learning where students take an active role in their learning, often through participating in activities such as clicker questions and group work. There is emerging evidence that suggests active learning activities may cause students to feel anxious, but no studies have thoroughly explored why active learning activities in science courses may increase students' anxiety. Further, no studies have explored whether active learning activities can reduce students' anxiety. In this exploratory interview study of 52 students enrolled in large-enrollment active learning college science courses, we investigate how three active learning practices, clicker questions, group work, and cold call/random call, increase and decrease students' anxiety. Students reported that clicker questions and group work had the potential to both increase and decrease their anxiety. The way the active learning activity is implemented and the extent to which students perceive they benefit from the activity seems to influence the effect of the activity on students' anxiety. Conversely, students reported that cold call and random call only increased their anxiety. From our interviews, we identified the fear of negative evaluation, or the sense of dread associated with being unfavorably evaluated while participating in a social situation, as the primary construct underlying students' high levels of anxiety associated with speaking out in front of the whole class when they do not volunteer.
International Journal of STEM Education: Volume 5, Issue 1, Pages 23
Subjects Levels Resource Types
Education - Applied Research
- Active Learning
= Cooperative Learning
- Classroom Management
- Technology
= Audience Response
Education - Basic Research
- Student Characteristics
= Affect
- Lower Undergraduate
- Reference Material
= Article
PER-Central Type Intended Users Ratings
- PER Literature
- Educators
- Professional/Practitioners
- Administrators
- Researchers
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Format:
text/html
Access Rights:
Free access
License:
This material is released under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license.
Rights Holder:
BioMed Central Ltd.
DOI:
10.1186/s40594-018-0123-6
Keywords:
active learning, clickers, group learning, student response systems
Record Creator:
Metadata instance created September 8, 2022 by Lauren Bauman
Record Updated:
November 14, 2022 by Caroline Hall
Last Update
when Cataloged:
June 12, 2018
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Record Link
AIP Format
K. Cooper, V. Downing, and S. Brownell, , Int. J. STEM Educ. 5 (1), 23 (2018), WWW Document, (https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-018-0123-6).
AJP/PRST-PER
K. Cooper, V. Downing, and S. Brownell, The influence of active learning practices on student anxiety in large-enrollment college science classrooms, Int. J. STEM Educ. 5 (1), 23 (2018), <https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-018-0123-6>.
APA Format
Cooper, K., Downing, V., & Brownell, S. (2018, June 12). The influence of active learning practices on student anxiety in large-enrollment college science classrooms. Int. J. STEM Educ., 5(1), 23. Retrieved October 4, 2024, from https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-018-0123-6
Chicago Format
Cooper, K, V. Downing, and S. Brownell. "The influence of active learning practices on student anxiety in large-enrollment college science classrooms." Int. J. STEM Educ. 5, no. 1, (June 12, 2018): 23, https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-018-0123-6 (accessed 4 October 2024).
MLA Format
Cooper, Katelyn M., Virginia R. Downing, and Sara E. Brownell. "The influence of active learning practices on student anxiety in large-enrollment college science classrooms." Int. J. STEM Educ. 5.1 (2018): 23. 4 Oct. 2024 <https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-018-0123-6>.
BibTeX Export Format
@article{ Author = "Katelyn M. Cooper and Virginia R. Downing and Sara E. Brownell", Title = {The influence of active learning practices on student anxiety in large-enrollment college science classrooms}, Journal = {Int. J. STEM Educ.}, Volume = {5}, Number = {1}, Pages = {23}, Month = {June}, Year = {2018} }
Refer Export Format

%A Katelyn M. Cooper %A Virginia R. Downing %A Sara E. Brownell %T The influence of active learning practices on student anxiety in large-enrollment college science classrooms %J Int. J. STEM Educ. %V 5 %N 1 %D June 12, 2018 %P 23 %U https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-018-0123-6 %O text/html

EndNote Export Format

%0 Journal Article %A Cooper, Katelyn M. %A Downing, Virginia R. %A Brownell, Sara E. %D June 12, 2018 %T The influence of active learning practices on student anxiety in large-enrollment college science classrooms %J Int. J. STEM Educ. %V 5 %N 1 %P 23 %8 June 12, 2018 %U https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-018-0123-6


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