A Meta-Analysis of Research on Active Learning Promoting the Academic Achievement of Students
Keywords:
Meta-analysis, Active learning, Learning AchievementAbstract
This study aimed 1) to estimate the effect of active learning methods on students' learning achievement and 2) to compare effect sizes among three groups of active learning methods. The sample comprised 76 experimental and quasi-experimental studies published between 2012 and 2023 (B.E. 2555–2566), yielding 337 effect sizes, retrieved from ThaiJO, ThaiLIS, and Google Scholar (the first 500 records ranked by relevance). The instruments were a research data extraction form and a research quality assessment form. Effect sizes were computed as standardized mean differences (Hedges' g) and synthesized using a three-level random-effects model with robust variance estimation to account for the dependence among effect sizes nested within studies. The results revealed that: 1) the overall effect was positive and large (g = 2.398, 95% CI [1.913, 2.883]); however, heterogeneity was very high (I² = 98.31%) and the 95% prediction interval included zero [-1.954, 6.749], indicating that effects in a new setting may range from large to negligible; and 2) activity-based, experience-based, and problem-based learning yielded pooled effects of 2.488, 2.325, and 2.196, respectively, with no statistically significant evidence that these effects differed (F(2, 29.5) = 0.14, p = .868). A funnel plot asymmetry test appropriate for standardized mean differences found no clear evidence of publication bias, but the test had limited power; therefore, the magnitude of the pooled effect should be interpreted with caution.
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