Just-in-Time-Teaching (JiTT) Improves Students' Performance in Classes - Adaptation of JiTT in Four Geography Courses

Abstract

By constructing “treatment” and “control” groups from existing grade rolls of courses taught with Just-in-Time Teaching (JiTT) method and traditional lecturing in recent years, this study demonstrates that JiTT improves student performance in classes. First, two groups of students were selected from each of the four different courses taught with JiTT such that the “treatment” group regularly completed warm-up exercises whereas the “control” group did not, but both groups had similar first exam scores. Statistical t-tests show that the “treatment” group had significantly higher overall course grade (by one letter grade on average) than the “control” group. Second, statistical t-test also indicates that students' relative improvement between the last and the first exams in a general education course using JiTT method is significantly higher than that of the same course using traditional lecturing prior to adopting JiTT method. In addition, qualitative surveys of students demonstrate that the majority of the students thought that doing Warm-Up exercises helped their learning, because Warm-Ups made them think about the material before going into lecture and thus made them more aware of and keen to the topics that would be discussed. These consistent results in four different courses over five semesters indicate that JiTT improves students' performance.