The Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) at the University of Louisiana at Monroe aimed to improve academic performance in two gateway science courses that are required for all STEM and pre-health sciences majors and are known to be barriers to student success. The project sought to achieve this primarily by a course redesign that incorporated an extra hour of instruction each week that provided active learning on historically difficult topics and lessons on metacognition. The literature on science pedagogy has shown that faculty who successfully create active learning classrooms help to improve learning outcomes (Suchman, 2014). Additionally, "planning, monitoring, and evaluating one's own learning processes" through metacognition improve thinking skills and increase academic success (Tanner, 2012, p. 114). The lessons learned from this project include important implications for the implementation of a directive, such as garnering the support of faculty in the initial design, creating cohesion within the class, and ensuring a culture of active learning and student success across disciplines.