Feedback for Station Based Learning

This article is a follow-up to my original post on Station-Based Learning. Please read it here if you haven’t already.

I spent some time this week connecting with my users and gathering feedback on the station-based learning lessons. I asked each student five questions:

1. How much do you enjoy the learning stations activity, compared to a normal class?
2. How much do you feel that you learned, compared to a normal class?
3. What was your favourite station (and why)?
4. What was your least favourite station (and why)?
5. Would you like to have more classes with these learning stations?

Here is what the results showed…

75% of students enjoyed the learning stations at least as much as normal (either the same, a little more, or a lot more). The most popular response was “a little more than normal” (41%). Only a small percentage of students rated their enjoyment lower. You can’t please everyone, but that’s definitely an encouraging breakdown.

How much students learned was even better – 80% rated their learning as at least as much as normal (either the same, a little more, or a lot more). The most popular response was “a little more than normal” (39%). Only 1 student rated her learning as “a lot less than normal”.

My anecdotal evidence held up: 55% of students preferred “Listen” – time at the board with me and a group of 4-6 other students. Comments here definitely indicated that students like the smaller size, and the opportunity to ask questions or talk about new concepts in a low-risk setting. Each station had at least 5 votes, indicating a definite range of preferences in learning styles. The 2nd most popular station was “Play” (online games/simulations).

The least favourite stations were Read (41%) – reading from my OneNote notebook and the textbook, and Watch (32%) – a Youtube video from Crash Course. Comments here were mostly along the lines of “I don’t like reading” (a real commentary on our current society, and a discussion topic for another day). Students also mentioned some challenges with the internet connection to watch the video, and that Hank Green talked too fast.

Overall, 54% of students were either slightly or greatly in favour of using the Learning Stations again in future lessons (with an additional 23% on the fence at “I don’t care”). Only 2 students were strongly opposed to using Learning Stations again.

Once again, I enjoyed the data collection and analysis process (Stat Geek!), and it seems like the majority of students had a positive experience. I will have to think about it, tweak my methods (iterate!), and bring back the learning stations later in the year. Post a comment if you have any tips!