From lecture to active learning: Rewards for all, and is it really so difficult?

What is active learning? What is the scientific evidence about it in the classroom? What is the lecture-textbook trap? What are the alternatives, and how difficult are they?  What about issues such as "first contact", and linkages between before-, during-, and after-class. Is there a motto about student reading? What are the rewards of active learning for both teachers and students?  How much inertia is there? I will address these questions based on  pedagogy developed in 17 distinct university courses at all levels over 20 years.  And there will still be plenty of  time left for discussion.

David Pengelley, a UW PhD alum, is a distinguished algebraic topologist and a well-known advocate for inquiry-based and active learning in mathematics.