There has been quite a lot of systematic work done, mostly Ph.D. theses, and those indicate that students learn more, remember longer, develop better strategies for learning . . . enhanced critical thinking, higher-level reasoning skills. There’s more and more [research] now in science, math, engineering, and technology—not as many as in higher education in general—but more and more studies. And recently there have been some really interesting studies done. A large chemistry class at the University of Wisconsin, for example: two different sections, random assignment of students to sections. One, a pretty much straight lecture format, the other a cooperative learning format. Very little difference in performance on individual exams, which is very common. You have highly motivated, quite talented students; it’s hard to find differences on factual exams. But they did a series of personal interviews, where they didn’t know which section students were coming from, with very probing questions. And the students who spent their class time explaining these ideas with one another did much better with depth of understanding.
                           

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