Practice. Practice. Practice. Do Homework Management Systems Work?

Practice is an essential component in learning any new skill. For learning the quantitative disciplines at the university level, web-based homework management systems provide the means for extensive practice with immediate feedback, which research suggests should lead to increased student learning (...

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Main Authors: Kathy Archer, Mark Olson
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Georgia Southern University 2018-07-01
Series:International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
Subjects:
Online Access:https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/ij-sotl/vol12/iss2/12
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author Kathy Archer
Mark Olson
author_facet Kathy Archer
Mark Olson
author_sort Kathy Archer
collection DOAJ
description Practice is an essential component in learning any new skill. For learning the quantitative disciplines at the university level, web-based homework management systems provide the means for extensive practice with immediate feedback, which research suggests should lead to increased student learning (Palocsay & Stevens, 2008; Titard, DeFranceschi, & Knight, 2014). Do web-based homework management systems improve student learning, as measured by exam scores, for adult learners in an online course? Does the use of simple Microsoft Excel-based homework templates relate to improved student exam scores? This natural experiment divided a sample of 2431 online students in an entry level university economics course into three treatment groups to look at the relationship between homework support and exam scores. Group A received no formal homework support. Group B got simple Microsoft Excel templates. Group C got an online homework management system with custom e-textbook. This study compares learning effectiveness of the three treatment approaches based on student exam scores. The results show that mean exam scores increased from 55.29% to 68.24%, with the addition of a web-based homework management system. Additionally, 74.52% of variance in exam scores was explained by variance in homework scores under the web-based homework management system that allowed three attempts on every question. This strong relationship suggests that practice provided by the web-based homework management system is correlated with increased student learning as evidenced by the increased exam scores.
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spelling doaj.art-119c4cf5f8354be48b271b19402d56022022-12-22T03:01:26ZengGeorgia Southern UniversityInternational Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning1931-47442018-07-0112210.20429/ijsotl.2018.120212Practice. Practice. Practice. Do Homework Management Systems Work?Kathy ArcherMark OlsonPractice is an essential component in learning any new skill. For learning the quantitative disciplines at the university level, web-based homework management systems provide the means for extensive practice with immediate feedback, which research suggests should lead to increased student learning (Palocsay & Stevens, 2008; Titard, DeFranceschi, & Knight, 2014). Do web-based homework management systems improve student learning, as measured by exam scores, for adult learners in an online course? Does the use of simple Microsoft Excel-based homework templates relate to improved student exam scores? This natural experiment divided a sample of 2431 online students in an entry level university economics course into three treatment groups to look at the relationship between homework support and exam scores. Group A received no formal homework support. Group B got simple Microsoft Excel templates. Group C got an online homework management system with custom e-textbook. This study compares learning effectiveness of the three treatment approaches based on student exam scores. The results show that mean exam scores increased from 55.29% to 68.24%, with the addition of a web-based homework management system. Additionally, 74.52% of variance in exam scores was explained by variance in homework scores under the web-based homework management system that allowed three attempts on every question. This strong relationship suggests that practice provided by the web-based homework management system is correlated with increased student learning as evidenced by the increased exam scores.https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/ij-sotl/vol12/iss2/12Economicsonline learninghomework management systemsadult learnersstudent learning
spellingShingle Kathy Archer
Mark Olson
Practice. Practice. Practice. Do Homework Management Systems Work?
International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
Economics
online learning
homework management systems
adult learners
student learning
title Practice. Practice. Practice. Do Homework Management Systems Work?
title_full Practice. Practice. Practice. Do Homework Management Systems Work?
title_fullStr Practice. Practice. Practice. Do Homework Management Systems Work?
title_full_unstemmed Practice. Practice. Practice. Do Homework Management Systems Work?
title_short Practice. Practice. Practice. Do Homework Management Systems Work?
title_sort practice practice practice do homework management systems work
topic Economics
online learning
homework management systems
adult learners
student learning
url https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/ij-sotl/vol12/iss2/12
work_keys_str_mv AT kathyarcher practicepracticepracticedohomeworkmanagementsystemswork
AT markolson practicepracticepracticedohomeworkmanagementsystemswork