Assignment and question types for EDU
At the start of each semester, I explain to students that their learning experience in the course starts with understanding assigned readings before class, and that this is an important first step that sets a basis for class discussions and exercises. The material covered in the reading is the foundation for what will be covered in lecture, discussion, and group work. I emphasize to students that active participation in class is vital for them to develop a higher understanding of the concepts beyond the textbook and to develop the ability to analyze situations, apply organizational behavior concepts, and create action plans. During class we have discussions, class exercises, and group presentations with question and answer sessions that are activities built from the textbook material.
For the EDU system, I post multiple choice questions for each reading, which I refer to as reading consideration questions. These questions are posted approximately one before we’ll discuss a topic, and they cover basic, important material that I expect students to understand. Students need to correctly answer a specific number of questions for each section to demonstrate mastery of the material. There is no time limit, and they do not have to finish a section in one sitting.
In Spring 2006, I had students answer eight to ten questions for each reading and was given feedback from students to have more questions. I added more questions for each reading in Fall 2006, so that there were 18 to 20 questions for each. Students felt that was too many. As of Spring 2007, I now use about 12 multiple-choice questions for each reading.
When implementing EDU, I decided to have students earn full credit if they mastered a set of question before class. If they hadn’t mastered material before class, they could still get half credit if they mastered it before it was covered in an exam. The on-line reading consideration questions from EDU are worth one-sixth of students’ course grades.
I designed my EDU exercises so that whenever students answer a question wrong, they will see my comments that explain the major concepts and analyses involved in the question and I direct them to specific parts of the readings to recapture the concepts (see examples in student performance section). Missing a question alerts students of their insufficient understanding of a topic and allows them to reconsider the reading and come back to check their understanding again with another question on the same topic. In this way, the on-line reading consideration exercise provides teaching opportunities outside class.
The learning approach of the on-line reading questions is also welcoming for students. The purpose is to encourage them to try as many times as necessary to be well prepared for class, rather than deducting quiz points for lack of preparation. With EDU, students’ grades are not adversely affected if they miss a couple questions, since there are other opportunities to master a concept with other questions about it. As long as they successfully complete a specific number of questions for each content topic from the readings, they have mastered the reading before class and will then be given full credit.
Finally, using on-line reading consideration questions fosters an active learning atmosphere among students. Instead of being anxious about and therefore guessing what will be asked on a quiz and being uncertain of what to take from course readings, on-line consideration questions provide students with guidance and with a sense of control. Students are not being passively evaluated; they now actively utilize these on-line questions to improve their learning. They also come to class well prepared, which creates active class discussions and student participation. Furthermore, because most students grasp readings, class time can be used more efficiently for activities designed for a higher level of learning such as case analyses, group discussions, and exercises.
The program is set up so that instructors can see student history to get feedback on how many students have completed an assignment and how many attempts it took for each student to complete it. Instructors can view by student or by topic. Instructors then have an archive of students’ performance, and they can see every student’s score and how each student responded to a question.
I briefly review EDU reports before class. If I see that lots of students had numerous tries on one concept, I have more class discussion on that concept. But this did not happen very often. Most questions in my assignments can be answered relatively easily if students understand the readings. Also, because I provide comments to help students with the questions they miss, they rarely spend an enormous amount of time on any one question.
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