Difference Without Difference: An Assessment of Learning Outcomes Based on a Comparison of Active Learning and Traditional Lecture Pedagogical Styles in a Business Law Classroom

The purpose of this study is to determine whether an active learning classroom environment is more effective in helping university students learn the concepts of business law than the traditional lecture pedagogical style. To generate data to answer this question, six classes of introductory business law students were instructed on the topic of employment discrimination by a lecture method of delivery and seven classes of introductory business law students were taught the same topic using an active learning method of delivery. The learning outcomes of the students were then assessed using a standardized test, which was designed to measure the levels of student learning under several categories of Bloom's Taxonomy. Student responses were analyzed to determine whether there was any significant increase in learning for students who were taught by the active learning method of instruction versus students who were taught by a lecture method of instruction.