Interactive-engagement versus traditional methods: A six-thousand-student survey of mechanics test data for introductory physics courses

A survey of pre/post-test data using the Halloun–Hestenes Mechanics Diagnostic test or more recent Force Concept Inventory is reported for 62 introductory physics courses enrolling a total number of students $N=6542.$ A consistent analysis over diverse student populations in high schools, colleges, and universities is obtained if a rough measure of the average effectiveness of a course in promoting conceptual understanding is taken to be the average normalized gain $〈g〉.$ The latter is defined as the ratio of the actual average gain $(%〈post〉−%〈pre〉)$ to the maximum possible average gain $(100−%〈pre〉).$ Fourteen “traditional” $(T)$ courses $(N=2084)$ which made little or no use of interactive-engagement (IE) methods achieved an average gain $〈g〉T-ave=0.23±0.04 (std dev).$ In sharp contrast, 48 courses $(N=4458)$ which made substantial use of IE methods achieved an average gain $〈g〉IE-ave=0.48±0.14 (std dev),$ almost two standard deviations of $〈g〉IE-ave$ above that of the traditional courses. Results for 30 $(N=3259)$ of the above 62 courses on the problem-solving Mechanics Baseline test of Hestenes–Wells imply that IE strategies enhance problem-solving ability. The conceptual and problem-solving test results strongly suggest that the classroom use of IE methods can increase mechanics-course effectiveness well beyond that obtained in traditional practice.