Robert G. Gist
Instructor - Physics and Energy Sciences Department
Lecturer – Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Department
College of Letters, Arts & Sciences
University of Colorado Colorado Springs
1420 Austin Bluffs Parkway
Colorado Springs, CO 80918
(719) 255-3152
rgist@uccs.edu
a. What is the central question, issue, or problem you plan to explore in your proposed work?
Would inclusion of an on-line homework grading program be an effective method of physics instruction supplementing the existing traditional offerings by the physics department at UCCS?
b. Why is your central question, issue, or problem important, to you and to others who might benefit from or build on your findings?
Several on-line grading programs exist, but an instructor needs to evaluate the educational worth of switching away from or supplementing a traditional system. Instructors from several science and engineering disciplines could benefit from the results of such a study, particularly as it focuses on the particular adopted text and grading system within the department.
c. How do you plan to conduct your investigation? What sources of evidence do you plan to examine? What methods might you employ to gather and make sense of this evidence?
As class size grows and instructor/grader time per student diminishes, it may be cost beneficial and educationally effective to shift some or all students to an on-line homework grading system. While research suggests there is neither significant benefit nor detriment to such a system, it may be an attractive option for particular students and may free instructional resources for broader application. Before adopting such a system, however, it is important to assess the particular applicability to the UCCS physics department in using the on-line systems associated with our adopted physics texts. If on-line homework grading systems prove to be a useful addition to standard instruction, this proposed study will provide documentation, insight and experience that other instructors can access.
Several studies exist exploring the effectiveness of on-line homework in comparison with traditional grading by hand. The general consensus of the studies referenced are that using web-based homework systems do contribute to the variety of material offered to match student learning styles and increase the flexibility of problems that can be asked. The studies also indicate that on-line homework systems do not significantly impact the final grades in a course versus the traditional method of grading.
However, it is important to conduct the proposed study for three reasons. First, it is important to assess whether adopting such a system (either for a whole class or for a sub-section of a class) would, in fact, not be harmful to the particular classes offered in our department. Secondly, the effectiveness ofthe system will depend on the quality of the offeror or publisher, and it is vital to examine the system associated with the particular text adopted by the department. Improvements to the on-line systems will have presumably been made since the referenced studies have been performed. Finally, instructors may be more amenable to shifting some or all of the sections or sub-sections to an on-line grading system if someone in the department is willing to share direct experiences in doing the same. As enrollment in physics courses grows, and with the amount of instructor time becoming a limited resource, on-line homework grading has the potential to greatly extend the instructors’ effectiveness to the student population. And it appears that on-line homework is a beneficial supplement to the traditional offerings of lecture, lab and recitation. With the increasing familiarity of most incoming students to electronic textbooks, programs, websites, and on-line applications, on-line homework presents course material in a manner that may better match the learning style of these students.
On-line, interactive homework help, administration, and grading programs are becoming a standard companion to many technical textbooks. The physics department at UCCS typically makes assessment of students’ learning dependent on homework problems, but has been using traditional means of evaluating the assessment by hand-grading, either by the professor or by student helpers. As the student population grows, the ratio of students to professors will grow accordingly, reducing the time per student available for traditional assessment of homework, and of time to personally assist students when they encounter difficulty in problem solving. In some cases of very large class sizes, the homework component of evaluation may be removed entirely due to resource constraints. Textbook publishers for the applied sciences and engineering are offering robust and comprehensive on-line homework assistance and grading systems that parallel the type of work that traditionally has been done manually to date.
In conducting a literary search, it was found that one of the studies used a previous edition (5th edition) of the text currently adopted by our department (Halliday, Resnick and Walker, “Fundamentals of Physics” 8th edition.) Additionally, another study used the on-line homework system associated with a formerly adopted text, Serway’s 1999 edition of “Physics for Scientists and Engineers”.
In the process of this proposed study, it is suggested that a matrix of on-line systems from different publishers and for differently authored texts could be compiled outlining the particular on-line benefits and deficiencies each system offers. This can be used by instructors from a variety of areas to evaluate the potential of offerings by on-line systems when choosing a text to adopt.
Procedures in conducting the research of the guiding question in the proposal include the following:
● Student survey ●Student choice in participation ●Conduct study over two semesters ●Document the process ●Monitor for any significant differences in student performance
Some of the means to share the results of the proposed study are:
● Short summary or white paper format for distribution ● Discussion at department meetings ● Dissemination of summary and procedure documentation via campus website ● Depending on the merit of the results, a peer-reviewed paper may be written and submitted.
A list of some of the cost and resource benefits of performing this study include:
● Student grader resources could be freed for other classes. ● Students can save money with on-line textbooks. ● Instructor time for non-online participants can be increased.
d. How might you make your work available to others in ways that facilitate scholarly critique and review, and that contribute to thought and practice beyond the local?
If on-line homework grading systems prove to be a useful addition to standard instruction, this proposed study will provide documentation, insight and experience that other instructors can access.
e. Include a literature review of the theory and effective teaching practice of the subject of your inquiry in order to locate your research in the literature preceding it.
A modest literature search was conducted, with the following works of most interest at this time.
- Bonham, Scott, Robert Beichner, and Duane Deardorff. "Online Homework: Homework: Does It Make a Difference?" The Physics Teacher May 2001: 293-96.
- Bonham, Scott W., Duane L. Deardorff, and Robert J. Beichner. "A Comparison of Student Performance Using Web and Paper based Homework in College-level Physics." Journal of Research in Science Teaching 40.10 (2003): 1050-071.
- Dufresne, R. "The Effect of Web-based Homework on Test Performance in Large Enrollment Introductory Physics Courses." The Journal of Computers in Mathematics and Science Teaching 21.3 (2002): 229-51.
- Pascarella, Andrea M. "The Influence of Web-based Homework on Quantitative Problem-Solving in a University Physics Class.” Proceedings of the NARST 2004 Annual Meeting. Vancouver: National Association for Research in Science Teaching, 2004.
f. What is your record of innovation in teaching and/or the assessment of learning?
I have developed original course material for several of the courses I regularly teach. This includes the creation and implementation of short, hands-on astronomy exercises, concept summary sheets for physics, procedural worksheets for engineering mechanics, and an equation summary spreadsheet for engineering mechanics. I have provided new course content for an upper-division physics course that I taught. I ran a remote-learning Winterim course by creating unique exams for each student using an exam and solution generator.
g. Are you able to attend the required meetings as specified in Section 5, What are the Benefits?
I will be able to attend the scheduled meetings at the Anschutz Medical Campus and at least two meetings with a mentor or coach over each semester.
h. Can you suggest an appropriate coach/mentor for your project? Please also provide the email address for your proposed coach/mentor.
Elaine Cheesman has graciously agreed to be my mentor/coach.
i. If your project is selected, are you willing to serve as a coach in PTLC in a future year?
I would be willing to serve as a future mentor or coach for the PTLC.
