The effects of active learning on students' memories for course content

This article published in Active Learning in Higher Education determines active learning techniques and their relation to the course content retained by students in a higher education setting. Two studies performed by the author identified that students cited memory of activities which actively engaged them and forced them to reflect upon concepts.

Study 1
A group of 250 undergraduate students enrolled in three different courses at private Midwestern liberal arts college were provided with a survey on the last day of class. Participants were enrolled in introductory courses. The participants were instructed to write down ten things they remembered from the course. The survey instructed the participants to freely report anything that they remembered. The survey was left anonymous. The participant responses were coded for their level of understanding and the frequencies were summarized. Results showed that the videos and in class active exercises were most cited in the participant free responses.

Study 2
A group of 64 undergraduate students enrolled in three different courses at private Midwestern liberal arts college were provided with a survey on the last day of class. The participants were enrolled in advanced courses. The participants were instructed to write down ten things they remembered from the course. The survey instructed the participants to freely report anything that they remembered. The survey was not anonymous. The participant responses were coded for their level of understanding and the frequencies were summarized. Results showed that the videos and in class active exercises were most cited in the participant free responses just like those found in the introductory courses.

Source
The effects of active learning on students' memories for course content
Cherney, Isabelle D.
Active Learning in Higher Education, Jul 2008; vol. 9: pp. 152-171