The effect of active learning approach on students' academic achievement, attitudes towards the course and retention: A meta-analysis study

The aim of this research is to analyze the results of experimental and quasi-experimental studies that examine the effect of active learning approach on students' academic achievement, attitudes towards the course and retention by meta-analysis method and to reveal the effect of various study characteristics on these researches. As a result of the literature review carried out for this purpose; 397 studies (512 effect size) for the academic achievement variable, 143 studies (158 effect size) for the attitudes towards the course variable and 88 studies (109 effect size) for the retention variable, which meet the inclusion criteria, were included in the meta-analysis. The results of the analysis by using random effects model indicate a strong main effect size for the effectiveness of active learning on academic achievement (g=1.005), a moderate main effect size on attitudes towards the course (g=0.757) and a strong main effect size on retention (g=1.204). Moderator analyses indicate that the effect of active learning on academic achievement gets differ significantly depending on some moderator variables such as status of the publication, domain of subject, education level, grade level, the way in which the measuring instrument is developed, sample size, applicator and location. The effect of active learning on attitudes towards the course gets differ significantly only depending on a moderator variable, the way in which the assessment tool is developed. The effect of active learning on retention gets differ significantly depending on several moderator variables such as type of publication, domain of subject, education level, grade level, the way in which the measuring instrument is developed, duration of the experiment and location. The highest effect size values for the academic achievement variable have been found among the studies that published in the field of art, belong to studies that participants are 10th grade and high school students, which the measuring instruments were developed by the researcher, which the sample size is less than 50 students, that the experimental process was held by both the researcher and the course teacher, that held in domestic areas. The highest effect size value for the attitudes towards the course variable have been found at studies that measuring instruments developed by researcher. The highest effect size values for the retention variable have been found at studies that belong to doctoral dissertations, which published in the field of art, that participants are 7th grade and middle school students, which measuring instruments were developed by the researcher, that the experimental duration between 13-16 weeks and carried out domestic areas. Keywords: Active Learning, Meta-Analysis, Academic Achievement, Attitude, Retention.