Perceptions of the Active Learning Classrooms

The survey results for our 2nd Active Learning Classroom Survey convey so much insight! Just like the last survey, the perception data is overwhelmingly positive.

The survey included the following short answer prompt:

How do you feel the new classroom has impacted your learning experience?

Here are two of my favorite quotes:

“I feel that the new active learning classroom has helped me in a big way. It is a lot easier to learn and pay attention to people who are speaking and easier to get feedback from other students.”

“More people pay attention. I hardly ever see anyone playing games, or messing around with their iPad. It’s just so much easier to pay attention and participate and removes 90% or the boringness of a normal classroom. I think these classrooms are extremely useful to everyone, students and teachers alike, and truly do live up to their name as active learning classrooms. I love these classrooms and hope that they do get implemented for future Rockhurst students.”

Using the qualitative data analysis software, Atlas.ti, here are some of the common themes:

And some of those themes relate to each other! 20% of the time students discuss improved attention, they are also saying that the learning is easier.

The following question intrigued me:

Does a relationship exist between the average scores and the short answer responses?

While playing with Tableau, I discovered a neat way of looking at the data. Using a treemap, one can read the free responses based on the average scores they gave to the questions:

Another interactive way of looking at the data is below. The long horizontal line represents the average rating students gave to all questions (4.370 out of 5). The smaller line segments represent the particular student’s average. One can scroll left and right to read all of the student comments based on their average score.