Mary Pat Wenderoth

Recognized for her teaching excellence, Dr. Mary Pat Wenderoth is a winner of the University of Washington Distinguished Teaching Award (2001) and member of the University of Washington Teaching Academy. Dr. Wenderoth has been involved with broad dissemination of best teaching practices, through her involvement with the National Academies Scientific Teaching Alliance (NASTA) and co-founding of the Society for the Advancement of Biology Education Research (SABER).

Dr. Wenderoth is the author and co-author of several important publications about evidence-based teaching in STEM disciplines, including notably a meta-analysis published in PNAS last spring that demonstrates that active learning versus lecturing in undergraduate courses significantly reduces failure rates and increases exam scores (Freeman et al., 2014).
Nobel Laureate and educational reform advocate, Carl Wieman, writing about this research states: “This meta-analysis makes a powerful case that any college or university that is teaching its STEM courses by traditional lectures is providing an inferior education to its students”. (Weiman, 2014).

References:

1. Freeman, S., Eddy, S. L., McDonough, M., Smith, M. K., Okoroafora, N., Jordta, H., & Wenderoth, M. P. (2014). Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics. PNAS, 111(23):8410 – 15.
2. Wieman, C. E. (2014). Large-scale comparison of science teaching methods sends clear message. PNAS, 111(23): 8319–20.

Footnote:

PNAS refers to: Proceedings of the National Academy of Science in the United States