Are lectures detrimental to student learning?

Carl Wieman recently called a very important Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences' article to my attention. The article's title clearly describes its subject and conclusion: Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics. The authors of the article - Scott Freeman, Sarah L. Eddy, Miles McDonough, Michelle K. Smith, Nnadozie Okoroafor, Hannah Jordt,and Mary Pat Wenderoth - are, or have been, associated with the Department of Biology at the University of Washington, where some excellent research is being done on the use of active learning in biology.