Do Changes in Classroom Techniques Matter? Teaching Strategies and Their Effects on Teaching Evaluations

Abstract Advocates of active teaching techniques, such as group assignments and discussion sessions, claim that such techniques increase what students learn and improve their evaluations of the professor. We used a survey of instructors in introductory economics classes at Temple University to test whether active teaching increases how much students feel they learn and how highly they regard their instructors. We found that active teaching did not improve either perceived learning or student evaluations, leading us to question how valuable these techniques are in introductory economics classes.