چکیده (انگلیسی):

A Geological Perspective is a general education survey course for non-science majors at a large
southwestern research extensive university. The class has traditionally served 600 students per
semester in four 150-student lectures taught by faculty, and accompanied by optional weekly study
groups run by graduate teaching assistants. We radically redesigned the course to 1) improve
student learning and, simultaneously, 2) reduce faculty effort. Previously o ptional study groups
were replaced by weekly mandatory break-out sessions, run largely by undergraduate peer
mentors. Twice weekly, lectures are brief with a large portion of class time allocated to active
learning in small groups. Completing quizzes on -line reduced grading and allowed students more
flexibility. Evaluation of the redesign (mixed methods, quasi -experimental, two-group, pre-testpost-test, multiple-measures study design) revealed no significant improvements in learner
outcomes insofar as the instruments could measure. However, qualitative results reveal that
overall students greatly valued their learning experience under the redesign. In addition, the
redesign reduced the departmental cost of the class offering per student by more than half.