Using Pre-lesson Materials and Quizzes to Improve Student Readiness and Performance

Research has shown that students are preparing less for class using traditional forms (i.e.: reading textbooks) and, as a result, are not ready for class. Providing additional support materials to be reviewed before class in a format preferred by first-year engineering students may improve student readiness and performance. Therefore, in addition to traditional reading assignments, students complete pre-lesson activities such as video tutorials, online quizzes, or short “how to” exercises. In response to a student survey given in fall 2013 on current course preparation and desired formats, materials were developed in spring 2014 for course ENG1101. The pre-lesson activities focused on videos and on-line quizzes for MATLAB. Results from the pilot suggest slightly positive improvements in readiness and performance. Therefore, pre-lesson activities have been expanded to include additional topics. Video tutorials, online quizzes, and additional pre-lesson activities were developed for the additional topics which included technical communication, spreadsheets, problem solving, statistics, as well as the MATLAB lessons. The pre-lesson activities were incorporated in course ENG1101 in fall 2014. Students were assigned the pre-lesson videos in addition to the traditional reading assignment (textbook reading to prepare for class) with several levels of encouragement to prepare for class ranging from no encouragement to required quizzes or short assignments to be completed before class. At the end of the semester, these students completed a survey similar to the pilot survey regarding what they did to prepare for lessons and what additional support materials they would like to have. This paper will focus on the impact of the pre-lesson activities, including short video tutorials and on-line quizzes, on student readiness and performance. The responses on the student preparedness surveys for the different groups will be compared to see if the developed materials improves student readiness. The three groups were:  No change to the current course format  Students could watch the videos  Students could watch the videos and they had to complete a short, on-line quiz based on the video content. Additionally, student learning will be assessed by comparing performance on exam scores pertaining to topics for the fall 2013 traditional reading group and the fall 2014 experimental group. Introduction and Background As engineering education evolves, a new way of student learning has developed called blended learning. Blended learning has been defined as “the combination of traditional face-to-face and technology-mediated instruction”.1 With this broad definition, there is a plethora of ways that P ge 26677.2 blended learning can be incorporated into courses and programs. Students perceive blended courses more positively than either traditional or on-line ones. The main reason for this is that students can manage how they allocate their time. They can choose to complete their coursework around their other commitments like sports, work and social commitments.2 Students have stated that they value interactions with their faculty, but want those interactions to be useful to them. Additionally, engaging with other students is an important component of their education. Interactions between students and faculty naturally occur and are facilitated within the classroom. Students perceive that they receive feedback from their instructor faster in a blended learning environment.2 Many universities are establishing initiatives to encourage faculty to bring blended learning into their courses and programs. University of Central Florida is an institution where blended learning has been incorporated in courses since 1997. As a university, blended learning has become fully incorporated into university policy. As such, they have shown historically that students value blended learning; retention and completion rates within the courses and programs has increased.3 The Swanson School of Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh began promoting blended learning in 2013. As part of this program, a first-year engineering programming course was “flipped”. “Flipped” classrooms are where the traditional lecture material is moved to formats that students review outside of class. The class time is spent with students completing problems and exercises. In this course, that meant students complete programming exercises during class where they have access to the instructor. Consequently, most of the students responded positively to the “flipped” environment because of the increased time to work with their instructor on various problems.4 At Lipscomb University, two introductory chemistry courses required students to watch videos prior to class (video lengths: 1:08 – 17 minutes). Two hundred videos were developed for the two courses or about 14 hours of lecture material was transferred from the classroom to the virtual environment. A second component of this program was for students to complete on-line homework assignments. The “extra” class time was used to answer student questions regarding the videos, homework and quiz questions, along with longer in-class problems that students solved with guidance from the instructor. Student perceptions of the flipped environment were gathered through a survey at the end of class. Many students reported that having the videos outside of class was a “burden” to them, although over 20% of the students disagreed. On the positive side, many students reported that they were more engaged in the classroom and found class to be more useful. 5 Two faculty members at the University of Hartford wanted to see the effect of flipping a portion of a Calculus II class. The instructor taught two sections back-to-back. Therefore, he flipped one course unit for one of the sections and not the other. Like the Lipscomb University Chemistry courses5, the instructor created one to three videos per lecture topic for students to watch prior to class. The length of the pre-lessson videos for a given lesson did not exceed 15 minutes. The flipped section students then spent most of the class time working problems and interacting with the instructor. The traditional section spent most of the class time listening to the instructor with only minimal time for questions and problem solving. As part of this portion of the class, students completed two exams. For both exams, students in the flipped environment P ge 26677.3 outperformed the students who were in the traditional classroom. Furthermore, the students in the flipped environment were surveyed to determine their perceptions of the change. Overall, the results were positive. Students liked the short videos and the inclusion of worked examples. The also reported that the videos were good to review prior to the exams. On the negative side, students wanted the opportunity to ask the instructor questions while they viewed the videos because if they did not understand some of the material, they were unable to complete the quiz at the beginning of class. 6 At Michigan Technological University (Michigan Tech), an initiative to encourage the inclusion of blended learning in the classroom began in the 2013-2014 academic year. Faculty were encouraged to submit proposals to the Jackson Center Blended Learning Grant program for “course/program reform or expansion projects using blended and online learning”.7 Through this program, faculty can receive funds to help them incorporate blended learning or on-line resources into their courses or programs. Faculty within the First-Year Engineering Program received a small grant to develop pre-lesson instructional modules for the coverage of first-year ENG course topics on MATLAB. These pre-lessons would allow for additional course support, instruction, and/or preparation for classroom activities.8 Pre-lesson videos have been shown to be effective for all levels of college students, but Clark, et al., reported that upper classmen tended to watch the videos before class and many first-year students watched them after the material was covered in class.4 The activities, the data collected, and our analysis will be described and summarized in the following work.