Four Strategies, Five Point Gains: Digging Into The Data on The Real Impact of Evidence-Based Teaching

What if improving your students' exam scores didn't mean more grading, longer lectures, or sacrificing your personal life to the pedagogical gods? In this special episode of Digging Into the Data, host Marisa Bluestone sits down with Marcy Baughman, VP of Learning Science & Research at Macmillan Learning, to break down a large-scale study funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The focus? Four powerhouse evidence-based teaching strategies and the measurable impact they had on over 1,400 students across three semesters.

From surprising subgroup insights to tips you can try tomorrow, we're giving you the research-backed goods—and a few mic-drop moments you won't want to miss.

Brought to you by Macmillan Learning

🔍 What You'll Learn:

• Why "thinking about thinking" might just be the ultimate grade booster.
• What instructors think they're doing vs. what students feel they're experiencing.
• How small digital nudges created big academic wins.
• Why it's not just what you teach—but how students understand they're learning.
• What students really need to hear when they're knee-deep in coursework (and why you should say it more often).
• How the simple act of assigning the right resource can unlock better outcomes—without adding more to your plate.
• The one strategy students loved... but couldn't name.

📚 Today's Syllabus:

📜 The Goals Behind the Study → 00:02:01
📊 Defining the Four Strategies → 00:03:28
🏫 The Biggest Surprises → 00:05:10
💡 Metacognition's Outsized Impact → 00:07:17
🛠 Scaling Strategies: What's Ready, What's Not → 00:09:02
🔍 Bridging Perception Gaps in Active Learning → 00:12:23
✨ Instructors Who Pivoted Mid-Semester → 00:13:21
🎓 One Simple, Powerful Teaching Habit → 00:15:40
🎯 How to Implement Goal Setting and Reflection → 00:17:11
🧠 The 5-Point Impact of Evidence Based Teaching → 00:19:03
✨ What We Learned Today — A Brief Summary → 00:22:18

📖 Required Reading:

Links to studies, references, and Macmillan Learning resources mentioned in the episode:

• Macmillan Learning. Goal Setting and Reflection Surveys Research Note. (2024). https://community.macmillanlearning.com
• About Achieve: https://go.macmillanlearning.com/achieve
• Goal Setting and Reflection Surveys Research Note:  https://go.macmillanlearning.com/rs/1
• Learning Forward – Evidence-Based Teaching Practices That Work:  https://community.macmillanlearning.com/t5/learning-stories-blog/learning-forward-evidence-based-teaching-practices-that-work/ba-p/23054 

Guest:

Marcy Baughman
VP, Learning Science & Research, Macmillan Learning

Office Hours:

📞 Leave us a voicemail! Got a classroom story, tip, or question? Call (512) 765-4688 and you might be featured in a future episode.

📨 Want to be a guest or suggest a topic? Email us at TheWhatAndWhoOfEDU@macmillan.com.