In large lecture courses, it can be challenging to imagine assessing student learning in ways other than multiple-choice exams and traditional point-based grading. Inspired by major pedagogical principles shared by Maria Montessori and Thomas Jefferson and supported by current understandings of effective teaching, assessment was reimagined in a…

Twenty years of research shows that using interactive techniques more often can make a class more effective. For example, a study of six thousand physics students compared classes using passive lecture to classes using interactive techniques that allowed for discussion among students and between the professor and students. The study showed that…