arXiv subjects

Ibukunoluwa Bukola

Publications and source records attributed to Ibukunoluwa Bukola.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Characterizing adopters of named active learning methods in physics: An interview study

Active learning has been shown to be more beneficial for student learning than lecturing. Consequently, researchers have developed named active learning strategies for use in physics instruction. To increase adoption and support implementation of these named methods, it is important to understand the backgrounds and experiences of instructors who use them. In this study, we interviewed 20 introductory physics and astronomy instructors who use one of Student-Centered Active Learning Environment with Upside-Down Pedagogies (SCALE-UP), Investigative Science Learning Environment (ISLE), Tutorials in Introductory Physics and Astronomy, or Peer Instruction to gain insight into their teaching experiences, professional development, pathways to learning about their method, and supports for and difficulties in implementation. We find for our sample that all implementers are involved with the discipline-based education research community, but there is variation in the extent of engagement. While instructors identify a variety of supports for their implementation, such as from the broader education community and departmental administration, the difficulties they experience are representative of both long-standing issues associated with active learning adoption (e.g., timing constraints) and new issues related to emergent technologies (e.g., Artificial Intelligence). Finally, we uncover differences in implementers across the four named methods, particularly related to their training for the method and the supports they received for implementation. Together, these findings underscore the importance of supporting multiple dissemination avenues for named active learning methods, point to a possible need for more training opportunities for SCALE-UP and ISLE in particular, and identify nascent issues in the contemporary active learning classroom that future work may further characterize and address.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2025

Measuring fidelity of implementation of named active learning methods in physics

Various active learning methods have been developed for introductory physics, and these methods are increasingly being adopted by instructors. However, instructors often do not implement these methods exactly as was originally intended by the developers, as they may face issues related to funding and institutional support for active learning and/or have different instructional contexts (e.g., student populations) and environments (e.g., physical classroom layouts) than the developers. Existing research does not sufficiently capture the range of variation in instructor implementation of established active learning methods, especially in comparison to high-fidelity implementations. In this study, we first identify the critical components (i.e., components without which the active learning method cannot be said to have been implemented) of three named active learning methods: SCALE-UP, ISLE, and Tutorials. We then evaluate the fidelity with which 18 different introductory physics instructors implement these methods by analyzing classroom observations and comparing the extent to which these broader implementations use each critical component in their classroom to high-fidelity implementations. We find across all three active learning methods that broader implementations spend similar amounts of class time on the critical components as high-fidelity implementations. At the same time, we observe substantial variation in the specific styles that broader implementers operationalize these critical components (e.g., doing a few long activities versus many short activities). Finally, we find no clear relationship between fidelity of implementation and student conceptual learning gains for our study's sample of instructors, providing preliminary evidence that different ways of implementing the critical components of active learning method may all effectively improve student understanding.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2025

Multi-institutional assessment of Peer Instruction implementation and impacts using the Framework for Interactive Learning in Lectures

Substantial research indicates that active learning methods improve student learning more than traditional lecturing. Accordingly, current studies aim to characterize and evaluate different instructors' implementations of active learning methods. Peer Instruction is one of the most commonly used active learning methods in undergraduate physics instruction and typically involves the use of classroom response systems (e.g., clickers) where instructors pose conceptual questions that students answer individually and/or in collaboration with nearby peers. Several research studies have identified that different instructors vary in the ways they implement Peer Instruction (e.g., the time they give students to answer a question and the time they spend explaining the correct answer); however, these studies only take place at a single institution and do not relate the implementation of Peer Instruction to student learning. In this study, we analyze variation in both the implementation and impacts of Peer Instruction. We use classroom video observations and conceptual inventory data from seven introductory physics instructors across six U.S. institutions. We characterize implementation using the Framework for Interactive Learning in Lectures (FILL+), which classifies classroom activities as interactive (e.g., clicker questions), vicarious interactive (e.g., individual students asking a question), or non-interactive (e.g., instructor lecturing). Our preliminary results suggest that instructors who use both interactive and vicarious interactive strategies may exhibit larger student learning gains than instructors who predominantly use only one of the two strategies.

physics.ed-ph↗