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: Reports : Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement (CCLI) |
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Annotations |
Report Excerpts |
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Excerpt 1
[Collaborative Research: Developing and Implementing Just-in-Time-Tracking (JiTT) Techniques in the Principles of Economic Course, North Carolina A &T State University]
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Interpretation & Conclusions
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Characteristics of students in the JiTT and non-JiTT groups for each exam indicated some differences between the two groups. One group
(Group A) had a lower percentage of female students throughout the
semester, as well as higher SAT scores, higher GPAs, and fewer credit
hours completed. These factors may be responsible for Group A earning
higher exam scores on each of the exams, even when Group A was not
completing JiTT assignments; however, group A scored slightly lower
than group B on the JiTT-related exam questions when group B was
completing JiTT assignments (exam #2). The differences in student
characteristics across groups highlight the need to control for these
variables, in particular students' knowledge entering the course (as
captured by SAT scores and GPA), when examining the learning benefits
of JiTT during the semester.
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Describes limitation of data |
When controlling for demographic and academic factors, regression
analysis for each of the exams indicates that completing JiTT
exercises prior to class has a weak positive effect on student exam
performance, both on JiTT-related questions and overall. However,
JiTT participation does not explain the whole story of student exam
performance. Students in the non-JiTT group performed better than
students in the JiTT group on one of the exams (exam #2), although
there was still a weak positive JiTT-group effect when additional
student characteristics were added to the regression model. One
factor possibly contributing to the weakness of the JiTT effect on
exam #2 is that students who participated in the JiTT group for exam
#1 (group A) may have changed their study habits based on their JiTT
participation, leading to a 'residual JiTT effect' on exam #2 (and
exam #3) that weakened the JiTT-group effect on this exam. It is also
possible that students in Group B would have done even worse if they
had not been doing the JiTT exercises during the period leading up to
exam #2. Because of this possible residual effect, there may be
reason to focus more on the results from exam #1, which obviously
contain no such effects.
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Present quantitative findings |
Student Perception of Effort and Learning
To better understand the role of JiTT exercises from students'
perspectives, students were asked in an end-of-semester questionnaire
to rate a variety of course activities in terms of 'how helpful the
activity was to learning in the course,' and 'how much effort the
activity required' during the semester. Mean student responses (based
on 38 students who finished the course) are listed in Table 3 (on a
scale of 1 to 5, with 5 representing the 'most helpful' or 'most
effort'). JiTT questions were rated as being important for students'
learning in the course (on an absolute scale) but not quite as helpful
as homework assignments and about as helpful as class lectures,
various in-class activities, and overall use of web resources
(including the Blackboard course management system) in the course.
The numerical results are consistent with students' written comments -
which were generally positive. Students indicated that the JiTT
component of the course should be retained in future semesters.
In terms of effort required, students ranked JiTT exercises in the
middle of the pack, relative to other activities in the course. The
finding that students viewed JiTTs as not requiring a great deal of
effort, coupled with their view that they were important to learning,
also led us to think about the relationship between student effort (or
at least students' perception of that effort) and activities that were
Final Report: 0088303
Page 6 of 12
perceived to provide the most help in learning. The data clearly show
a positive correlation between students' perceived effort for various
course activities and students' perceptions of those activities' aid
to learning, and further, the results suggest that JiTT exercises
provide an efficient way, relative to other types of course-related
assignments, of helping students to achieve greater learning.
Aid to Learning |
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(1=least helpful, 5=most helpful) |
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Homework assignments |
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4.16 |
Class lectures |
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3.95 |
In-class activities (e.g. market trading experiment) |
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3.92 |
Just-in-Time Teaching (JiTT) questions |
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3.89 |
Quizzes |
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3.78 |
FOMC simulation assignment |
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3.61 |
Economic Issues article analysis |
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3.35 |
Iowa Electronic Markets (IEM) trading |
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2.89 |
Wall Street Journal |
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2.71 |
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Effort Required |
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(1=least effort, 5=moust effort) |
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Studying for exams |
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4.58 |
Homework assignments |
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4.42 |
FOMC simulation assignment |
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4.24 |
Quizzes |
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4.13 |
Just-in-Time Teaching (JiTT) questions |
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3.39 |
Economic Issues article analysis |
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3.32 |
Use of the web, including Blackboard course site |
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3.18 |
Iowa Electronic Markets (IEM) trading |
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3.11 |
Wall Street Journal, current events reading |
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2.63 |
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