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Using MyEconLab: Results, Motivations, and Potential Pitfalls : Using MyEconLab: Results, Motivations, and Potential Pitfalls J. Brauer, Professor of Economics James M. Hull College of Business Augusta State University Augusta, GA 30904 USA www.aug.edu/~sbajmb 1 Presentation to the MyEconLab Teaching Forum Dallas, TX 31 March 2007


Outline : Outline The bottom line up front: what are the results? Motivations, potential pitfalls What next? Q andamp; A 2


Bottom line: some results : Bottom line: some results Institutional background No econ minor or major; only intro micro/macro service courses in b-school plus 1 pre-MBA and 1 MBA courses Non-residential campus; state university Almost all students are FT/PT employed and have families Increasing class sizes (20 =andgt; 60) =andgt; no more papers; now exam driven ECON2106 (micro) is prereq for ECON2105 (macro) 3


Bottom line: ECON4999 (economics for managers) : Bottom line: ECON4999 (economics for managers) ECON4999 (pre-MBA): average term grades 1998 Fall 87.3 [portfolio] 2002 Fall 83.5 [4x] 1999 Fall 89.0 [portfolio] 2003 Fall 83.3 [5x] 2000 Spr 84.2 [2x; 2p] 2004 Spr 81.3 [4x] 2000 Fall 84.8 [2x; 1p] 2004 Fall 88.2 [4x] 2001 Spr 78.4 [2x; 1p] 2005 Spr 77.7 [4x] 2001 Fall 85.4 [4x] 2005 Fall 86.3 [4x] 2002 Spr 79.8 [4x] X = exam; P = paper MyEconLab 2006 Spr 89.5 2007 Spr 88.3 [as of 3/25/07] DISCUSS. 4


Bottom line: ECON4999 (economics for managers) : Bottom line: ECON4999 (economics for managers) ECON4999 (pre-MBA): average term grades 1998 Fall 87.3 2002 Fall 83.5 1999 Fall 89.0 2003 Fall 83.3 2000 Spr 84.2 2004 Spr 81.3 2000 Fall 84.8 2004 Fall 88.2 2001 Spr 78.4 2005 Spr 77.7 2001 Fall 85.4 2005 Fall 86.3 2002 Spr 79.8 MyEconLab 2006 Spr 89.5 2007 Spr 88.3 [as of 3/25/07] 5 Results are slightly better with MyEconLab but I am not in the classroom anymore. The College gains flexibility in scheduling my time to teach another class; the students gain flexibility in doing the work on their own schedule. Moreover, the MyEconLab exam questions are MUCH more complex and difficult than exam questions I was able to give in the past with in-class exams.


Bottom line: ECON4999 (economics for managers) : Bottom line: ECON4999 (economics for managers) Designed as a self-study course with Internet-based study/learning materials (MyEconLab) and tutorial support by the professor (the 'inverted' classroom) The students cover 30 chapters (2 per week) Each week they do an online graded quiz (4 attempts) and an online graded test (2 attempts) on either one of the 2 chapters they read that week Quizzes/tests taken from in-chapter and end-of-chapter exercises (no solutions in text); other questions (e.g., testbank questions could be added but I have not done that yet) Prior to that, they obviously read the text AND (optionally) work with the MyEconLab StudyPlan – an online tutorial If they have questions, they email me a/o stop by the office for one-on-one tutoring (but only if they have done the StudyPlan!) 6


Bottom line: ECON4999 (economics for managers) : Bottom line: ECON4999 (economics for managers) The StudyPlan is an online tutorial that provides study hints and requires students to try an exercise over again before it 'spills the beans' (gives the answer) Exercises are T/F, M/C, fill-in-the-blank, numerical, and graphical 7 21 students + 1 student with zero hours Qualitative, not quantitative data?


Bottom line: ECON4999 (economics for managers) : Bottom line: ECON4999 (economics for managers) StudyPlan usage: 597 hrs/22 students = 27.14 hrs/student Lecture time saved: 10 weeks @ 2 x 1:15 hrs lecture time = 1500 min = 25 hrs Tutorial time spent: Don’t know but far andlt;25 hrs Student evaluation: Don’t know but last semester (Fall 2006) very happy students; informal feedback this semester (Spring 2007) also very good Pattern: Similar pattern for ECON2105 and ECON2106 [less StudyPlan usage; same lecture time saved; more tutorial time (but andlt;25 hrs); and equal or better course evaluations] 8


Bottom line: ECON2106 (microeconomics) : Bottom line: ECON2106 (microeconomics) ECON2106 (microeconomics): average term grades 1998 Fall 80.1 [14X] 1999 Spr 72.8 [3/4X; 1P] X = exam 1999 Fall 74.8 [5X] P = paper 2000 Fall 70.2 [3/4X; A] A = attendance 2001 Fall 79.1 [4X] 2002 Fall 68.2 [4X; A] 2004 Spr 71.1 [4X] MyEconLab 2005 Spr 74.1 [4X; 11T; A] T = online test 2006 Spr 80.1 [15Q; 15T; 5D] [mandatory A] Q = online quiz 2006 Fall 76.6 [13Q; 13T] [voluntary A] D = drops 2007 Spr 80.1 [10Q; 10T; 1 midterm] [self-study class] [as of 3/25/07] DISCUSS. 9


Bottom line: ECON2106 (microeconomics) : Bottom line: ECON2106 (microeconomics) Fall 2006 Items on horizontal axis are textbook chapters covered during the course. 10 Spring 2007 n = 36 students 600 hrs/36 = 16.67 hrs/student


Bottom line: ECON2105 (macroeconomics) : Bottom line: ECON2105 (macroeconomics) ECON2105 (macroeconomics): average term grades 1998 Fall 79.9 [14X] 2002 Fall 79.7 [4X] 1999 Spr 76.0 [3/4X; 1P] 2003 Fall 69.6 [3/4X] 1999 Fall 69.5 [4X] 2004 Spr 76.2 [4X] 1999 Fall 69.3 [4X] 2004 Fall 73.9 [3/4X] 2000 Spr 82.3 [4X; A] 2004 Fall 76.8 [3/4X] 2000 Fall 67.5 [4X] 2004 Fall 78.6 [3/4X] 2001 Fall 79.9 [3/4X] 2005 Fall 73.9 [4X; plus 1 retest] MyEconLab 2005 Spr 77.0 [4X; 13T; A] [mandatory attendance] 2006 Spr 77.9 [14Q; 14T; 2D] [mandatory attendance] 2006 Fall 78.6 [14Q; 14T] [voluntary attendance] 2006 Fall 82.0 [14Q; 14T] [voluntary attendance] 2007 Spr 82.5 [10Q; 10T; 1 midterm] [self-study class] [as of 3/25/07] DISCUSS. 11


Bottom line: ECON2105 (macroeconomics) : Bottom line: ECON2105 (macroeconomics) 12 Spring 2007; n = 48 students 622 hrs/48 students = 12.96 hrs/student


ECON2105/2106 grade distribution : ECON2105/2106 grade distribution Spring 2007 outcomes (3/25/07) ECON2105 (macroecon) Grade distribution (after 10 quizzes/tests + midterm) Grade Number Percent A 13 27.08% B 17 35.42% C 13 27.08% D 4 8.33% F 1 2.08% Sum 48 100.00% 13 Spring 2007 outcomes (3/25/07) ECON2106 (microecon) Grade distribution (after 10 quizzes/tests + midterm) Grade Number Percent A 11 30.56% B 11 30.56% C 5 13.89% D 6 16.67% F 3 8.33% Sum 36 100.00% Both distributions will improve. For example: 0 + 80 + 80 + 80 = 240 points Divided by 4, that’s 60% or a 'D' grade, even though the student clearly is a 'B' caliber student. The more quizzes/tests are given as the semester progresses, the smaller is the weight of the one missed quiz/test.


Course evaluation (excerpt) : Course evaluation (excerpt) Categorical response questions [1: worst; 5: best] Mean 12. I regularly read the textbook chapters. 4.86 13. I regularly worked the chapter section problems and exercises prior to the Quiz/Test. 4.27 14. I regularly worked the end-of-chapter problems and exercises prior to the Quiz/Test. 4.33 15. I regularly used the online Study Plan. 4.63 16. I regularly used other online study tools (e-Text, Flashcards, Glossary, etc.) 3.60 17. I regularly completed the online Quiz well before the deadline. 4.63 18. I regularly completed the online Test well before the deadline. 4.63 [Response rate about 1/3] 14


Grades improve … but why? : Grades improve … but why? My favorite explanation: 'practice makes the master' Internet-based testing makes high-frequency testing possible without 'stealing' class time [It’s possible to require test-completion of a chapter before lecturing about the chapter] Learning-by-doing Learning-without-punishment Demonstrating mastery AFTER mastery has been gained Thus, the very low correlation coefficient [0.02 to 0.19 (for Spring 2007 as of 3/25/07)] between grades and StudyPlan usage is irrelevant; in fact the correlation SHOULD be about zero [only students who need to use StudyPlan to achieve a desired grade will use it, and only up to the hours they need it] 15


Motivations : Motivations The tired student at 5:30pm; flexibility for the student The variety of students; the hedgehog and the hare (the learning plateau) The professor becomes the tutor; individualized treatment of students Bring lectures to students instead of students to lectures 16


Motivations : Motivations Frees up professor time to teach other classes (reduces admin resource constraints) Learning without punishment Much more complex, involved problems for students to work through Students actually READ and STUDY the textbook and WORK the problems (Whoa! But, yep, it’s true!) 17


Potential pitfalls : Potential pitfalls Infrastructure Publisher materials Students Professor Administration 18


Potential pitfalls (infrastructure) : Potential pitfalls (infrastructure) Need wide and well-functioning campus infrastructure of support College/department administration Computing requirements ITS folks Bookstore Publisher’s support team 19


Potential pitfalls(publisher materials) : Potential pitfalls (publisher materials) Not all publishers will have suitable software Even if available, it is not (yet) perfect Stand-alone software may not be available or may be only insufficiently integrated into textbook material Locked in to publisher’s offering? 20


Potential pitfalls(students) : Potential pitfalls (students) Self-study involves a lot of work ('online' does not mean it’s easy); students need to be disciplined, methodical, alert, honest to themselves [but students DO respond to the challenge!] Getting started can be tough https://northshore.aug.edu/cp/home/displaylogin [ASU pipeline] www.aug.edu/~sbajmb [my web site] www.myeconlab.com [publisher’s web site] Some students LIKE to hear professors talk! No professor – no integration of textbook material? Cheating? 21


Potential pitfalls(professor) : Potential pitfalls (professor) The empty classroom Asynchronous learning makes the professor jump around! Tutor, tutor, tutor Just how much time does it take? [anything andlt; 7-1/2 hours class time + prep time + office hours is good] The importance of day one 22


Potential pitfalls(administration) : Potential pitfalls (administration) Is a self-study, 'online' class with 100 students the 'same' as a traditional class with 40? Teacher/course evaluations need rewriting and they won’t fit the standard mold If you go up for Tandamp;P, how will the campus committees/individuals react? How does this tie in with ETS field scores or other externally validated tests? [… points need not be belabored] 23


What next? : What next? Spring 2007 Post explanations/solutions to particularly difficult concepts a/o excercises as pdf files online Fall 2007 The importance of day one Reduce quiz attempts (4=andgt;3) and use average rather than highest quiz grade; keep test attempts (=2) Increase weight on proctored midterm/final exams (15%=andgt;30%) Perhaps begin posting videos/podcasts Spring 2008 Teaching with MyEconLab (nearly) perfected Offer intermediate level classes Fall 2008 Teaching with MyEconLab routine Offer advanced level classes 24


Using MyEconLab : Using MyEconLab Questions/comments? 25