Increased Time for Active Learning in the Classroom and Scores Improve with Connect

Since Connect was implemented for Macroeconomics, Dr. Richard Hawkins has required that students complete the LearnSmart and Connect homework assignment relevant to the chapter assigned that week. Because students are already familiar with the chapter as the weeks’ classes commence, Hawkins can focus lectures on related research beyond the chapter content as well as current events. As a result of using Connect, he has seen improvement in student performance.

Connect is a powerful tool for teaching Economics and can improve course grades.

Implementation

Course grade is determined by the following:
20% – LearnSmart and Connect homework
60% – Exams
10% – Attendance
10% – Class presentations

Hawkins was seeking a program that would prompt students to read before class and also enable him to develop review questions based on where they struggle. Hawkins’ class covers roughly one chapter a week. To ensure students keep up with the course work, LearnSmart is required for 30 minutes before each new week of material is introduced. Hawkins says, “LearnSmart gets students to read before class and then, develops review/recharge questions based on where they struggle.” A Connect homework assignment (with nine multiple-choice and one end-of-chapter problem) is then due at the end of the week. These same questions are also available in a semester-long review format.

This format has ensured students stay on task, Hawkins says, and that frees him up to introduce relevant material beyond the text chapter. Since implementing Connect, he says, his own preparation is more focused on related research or on current events that apply to the material, since the students are already familiar with the material in the chapter. Hawkins is now able to add two outside, but related topics per chapter. For chapter 5 (inflation and the price level), he added more material on the dangers of deflation. “Falling prices sound like a good thing until you think about the ramifications,” he notes.

Hawkins has cut his grading time with Connect by no longer assigning paper problem sets. The students are now completing their homework and gaining an understanding of each chapter before class by completing LearnSmart reading and practice modules.

The Connect reports assist Hawkins in keeping his students on task and address problems as they arise as opposed to after they score poorly on an exam. “When we review before the exam, the reports help me emphasize material they struggled with,” Hawkins says. He also makes adjustments to his lectures based on the Connect report results to focus on this content.

Hawkins advises other instructors implementing Connect to make a folder for each course chapter, have LearnSmart due at the beginning of the week and homework due at the end of the week. He recommends the LearnSmart and Connect homework assignments to be at least 15 percent of the course grade. After the first two weeks of deadlines, instructors should solicit feedback on missed assignments so that problems can be caught early into the course.

Results Achieved

Hawkins no longer assigns paper problem sets. His weekly time allocation for grading has gone from 120 minutes to 20 minutes (Figure 1).

Since he began using Connect, the class’s median test score has increased by about eight points. For those scoring in the lowest 25th percent of the class, the improvement is more than ten points. “The best performing students were always engaged, but now the mid-level students are more engaged in class discussions,” says Hawkins. The top achieving students, already with A grades, increased their scores by four points. There was a 20 percent variation in an exam grade as well as an 8 percent median test score increase.

Because Connect has engaged students in learning the course content out of class and provides them meaningful feedback about their performance and progress, the school has even increased section sizes.

Conclusion

The Macroeconomics class has experienced an overall eight percent boost in student performance. Students now come to his class with a knowledge of term definitions that will be discussed, since they have learned these definitions while completing LearnSmart assignments. Since minimal time is now spent on definitions, he says, more time is allocated to going beyond the basic material, such as related research or current events that apply to the material. At the same time, he no longer assigns paper problem sets, since the material is covered in the Connect, and as a result, has decreased his time spent grading.

The best performing students were always engaged. The ‘second-tier’ students now have more self confidence in discussing the course material because of Connect and LearnSmart.

Digital Product in Use: McGraw-Hill Connect® Economics
LMS: Principles of Macroeconomics
Course Name: Blended lecture
Credit Hours: Three
Program in Use: Macroeconomics, 6th edition, Frank & Bernanke
Instructor: Richard R. Hawkins, PhD
Enrollment: 2 sections; 60 students/section, 480 university-wide enrollment each year
Case Study Terms: Spring 2015 (without Connect) to Summer 2016 (with Connect)