Active Learning Classrooms vs Computer Labs: Student Learning, Emotion, and Classroom Settings

Using undergraduate students in the research methods course in Child Development as participants and keeping the instructional approach consistent, this study examined two research questions. The first research question tested the effect of two classroom settings, active learning classrooms (ALCs) versus computer labs, on students’ learning. The results found that students in ALCs performed marginally better than computer labs for overall course grades and papers, but not for exams. The second research question tested the relationship between the reduction of negative feeling state and learning and investigated whether the relationship differed based on the classroom setting (ALCs vs computer lab). There were differential relationships between the reduction of negative feeling state and the performance of specific assignments by classroom settings. This study highlights the complexity of the impact classroom settings might have on students’ learning and how it might be related to students’ emotional states and their learning.