  The vast majority of research involving active learning pedagogies uses
passive lecture methods as a baseline. We propose to move beyond such
comparisons to understand the mechanisms that make different active learning
styles unique. Here, we use COPUS observations to record student and instructor
activities in six known styles of active learning in physics, and use latent
profile analysis to classify these observations. Latent profile analysis using
two profiles successfully groups COPUS profiles into interactive lecture-like
and other. Five latent profiles successfully sorts observations into
interactive lecture-like, Modeling Instruction, ISLE labs, Context-Rich
problems labs, and recitation/discussion-like. This analysis serves as a proof
of concept, and suggests instructional differences across pedagogies that can
be further investigated using this method.
