There exists a well-documented, persistent disparity on a number of educational measures between the performance of groups of students based on socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity and gender in nearly all high-income countries (see Carnoy and Rothstein 2013) and at all levels of education. Not surprisingly a substantial amount of research has focused on understanding both the source of this gap and on possible remedies. The use of active learning strategies has frequently been suggested as a way of helping disadvantaged students bridge this gap as all of the usual advantages of active learning (its more hands-on nature, focus on problem solving and critical thinking, etc.) are seen as particularly important to this group. Some researchers have, in fact, documented a disproportionate benefit from active learning to disadvantaged students (see for example, Haak et al. 2011). At the same time, other educators have argued that because of pre-existing achievement differences, inherent differences in learning styles, and cultural differences, disadvantages groups are left further behind in a classroom focusing on active learning and higher order thinking skills rather than basic skills and structured learning (see Petrilli 2013).
The present study attempts to examine differences in student outcomes and experiences with Team-Based Learning (TBL) on the basis of several demographic characteristics (age, gender, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status). The study population includes students in principles-level economics courses and undergraduate and MBA-level quantitative methods courses at a mid-sized state university. Preliminary results show no significant differences in educational outcomes between demographic groups; however, students report a qualitative difference in their experiences with TBL.
Carnoy, Martin and Richard Rothstein. (2013). International Tests Show Achievement Gaps in All Countries… Economic Policy Institute Blog posted February 13, 2013 http://www.epi.org/blog/international-tests-achievement-gaps-gains-american-students/
Haak, et al. (2011) Increased Structure and Active Learning Reduce the Achievement Gap in Introductory Biology. Science 332: 1213-16.
Petrilli, Michael. (2013) The Diversity Dilemma. Educational Leadership. 70(8): 44-8.
