ACTIVELY ENGAGED LEARNING 25

Conducting a meta-analysis of hundreds of empirical studies, authors found

that active-learning approaches provided a significant advantage over passive-
learning approaches in terms of acquiring subject matter knowledge and aca-
demic skills.
Prince, M. (2004). Does active learning work? A review of the research. Journal of
Engineering Education, 93(3), 223–231.
In this review of literature on active learning, the author found that students
remember more content if lectures include brief activities rather than focus
on covering the most material. He found that although the results vary in
strength, there is broad support for active, collaborative, cooperative, and
problem-based learning.
Wood, W. B., & Gentile, J. M. (2003). Teaching in a research context. Science,
302(5650), 1510. doi:10.1126/science.1091803
Physics, chemistry, and biology educators developed and used objective tests to
compare student learning gains in traditional courses and in courses that used
active engagement methods. The results provided substantial evidence that
students acquired and integrated new knowledge more effectively in courses
that included active, inquiry-based, and cooperative learning and courses that
incorporated information technology, rather than in traditional courses.

Principle 4: Multisensory Instruction Deepens Learning

Our senses evolved to work together—vision influencing hearing,

for example—which means that we learn best if we
stimulate several senses at once.
—John Medina (2008)

A picture is worth a thousand words.

—Unknown

Investigators in large metastudies have concluded that multisensory teaching

and learning can be more effective than traditional, unimodal teaching and
learning (Fadel, 2008; Kress, Jewitt, Ogborn, & Charalampos, 2006; Medina,
2008; Tindall-Ford, Chandler, & Sweller, 1997). According to Nilson (2010),
“Students learn new material best when they encounter it multiple times and
through multiple teaching and learning strategies and multiple input modes”
(p. 4). Learners cannot focus for long in a passive state (Jones-Wilson, 2005;
Svinicki, 2004). Multisensory teaching activates different parts of the brain,