Homework Questions Research Articles

Interactive homework to support student learning of measurement uncertainty in quantum mechanics

[This paper is part of the Focused Collection in Investigating and Improving Quantum Education through Research.] When thinking about measurement uncertainty in a laboratory experiment that features quantum mechanical effects, it is important to consider both the physical principles of underlying quantum theory (e.g., the uncertainty due to quantum mechanical superposition states) as well as the limitations of the measurement (e.g., the spread in outcomes due to instrumental imperfections). Prior research has found student difficulties with these sources of uncertainty both individually and in students’ ability to distinguish between them. Additionally, students are less likely to access ideas related to experimental uncertainty in quantum mechanical contexts unless explicitly prompted. In this work, we have developed a simulation-homework activity focused on the Stern-Gerlach experiment to help students develop an understanding for the different ways that modifying the quantum state, improving the experimental setup, or collecting more data, will affect the resulting outcome distribution. The activity uses a purpose-built interactive simulation, coupled with homework questions grounded in the literature on student thinking about uncertainty. We analyze the effectiveness of the activity with students in junior-level undergraduate quantum mechanics courses using pre- and post-testing. The results indicate that the activity was successful in helping students distinguish between quantum mechanical uncertainty and uncertainty caused by instrumental imperfections, and in increasing the accessibility of instrumental limitations in this context. The activity can thus support student understanding of the core concept of quantum uncertainty, as well as link between the often abstract nature of quantum theory and laboratory experiments with their limitations. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Investigating How Social Justice Framing for Assessments Impacts Technical Learning

Multiple studies call for engineering education to integrate social justice into classroom instruction. Yet, there is uncertainty regarding whether integrating these social topics into engineering curriculum will support or detract from the learning of technical concepts. This study focuses on evaluating how reframing technical assessments to include social justice concepts impacts student learning and investigates how well students integrate social justice into engineering decision making. Using a within-subject design, in which students were exposed to both conditions (questions with and without social justice context), we evaluate how social justice framing impacts overall student learning of technical topics. Social justice prompts are added to homework questions, and we assess students’ demonstration of knowledge of original technical content of the course, as well as their ability to consider social justice implications of engineering design. In the earlier homework assignment, the experimental group showed a significant decrease in learning when technical concepts were framed to include social justice. As the students became more familiar with social justice considerations, their learning of technical concepts became comparable to that of students who did not have the social justice components in their assignment. Their evaluation of the social implications of technical decisions also improved. History: This paper has been accepted for the INFORMS Transactions on Education Special Issue on DEI in ORMS Classrooms. Funding: This work was supported by the Carnegie Mellon University’s Wimmer Faculty Fellowship and the National Science Foundation [Grant 2053856]. D. Nock also acknowledges support from the Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation, where she is an energy fellow. Supplemental Material: The online appendices are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/ited.2022.0030 .

Analysis of the Need for Canva-Based Electronic Modules to Improve Vocational Learning Outcomes

The goal of education is not just to increase one's head knowledge, but also one's skill set, outlook, and frame of mind. Learning results are affected by the quantity and quality of reading resources available in schools. "e-module" refers to an electronic media-based educational tool. Teachers and students alike can benefit from the enhanced imagination that comes from using Canva media. Descriptive qualitative research was used to investigate these issues; in both the literature review and the field research, the researchers provided precise and detailed descriptions of their observations and findings. The researchers here are concerned with the importance of manufacturing things, and their subjects are teachers in vocational high schools (SMK). Teachers have expressed a desire for electronic modules that serve as learning medium for teaching vocational subjects. Students who need learning media other than textbooks to transfer material to vocational high school students benefit from the usage of e-modules because they increase their understanding and learning efficiency both in school and at home. Students require learning materials that are accessible and engaging. One of these resources is an engaging electronic module with homework questions designed to aid in students' character development and moral upbringing

Teaching systematic, reproducible model development using synthetic biology.

We present an educational unit to teach computational modeling, a vital part of chemical engineering curricula, through the lens of synthetic biology. Lectures, code, and homework questions provide conceptual and practical introductions to each computational method involved in the model development process, along with perspectives on how methods can be iterated upon to arrive at a final model. Ultimately, this content can be applied broadly to address questions in synthetic biology and classical chemical engineering.

Benefits of Establishing Accurate Student Learning Time Estimates in Two Second-Year Integrated Engineering and Math Courses

At the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the School of Biomedical Engineering at the University of British Columbia (UBC) a system of providing and refining time estimates for student completion of homework assignments has been introduced in two integrated second-year Engineering and Math courses. Particular attention has been given to individual homework questions. In this paper findings to date are presented after two offerings of the courses in which this system was implemented. By using student feedback from the first offering to adjust instructor time estimates, instructors were able to obtain time estimates accurate to within 5 minutes of student reported averages for 77% of ELEC211 and 64% of BMEG 220 questions. Student perception of the usefulness of time estimates was generally positive, ranging from 35% to 64% of students reporting the initiative to be either ‘useful’ or ‘very useful’ over 3 years of data. Examples drawn from both courses will be discussed to demonstrate how the collected data is being used to identify areas of further improvement to assignment questions and course structure.

Homework questions designed to require higher-order cognitive skills in an undergraduate animal physiology course did not produce desirable difficulties, testing effects, or improvements in information retention.

Studies show that retrieval practices such as homework assignments that are completed during the encoding phase of learning benefit knowledge acquisition and retention. In addition, desirable difficulties, which are strategies that intentionally create a greater challenge during initial learning to enhance encoding and retrieval pathways, also benefit learning long term. Our objective was to determine whether weekly homework questions intended to create desirable difficulties by requiring higher-order cognitive skills (HOCS) benefited students' long-term retention of physiology concepts compared to questions designed to require lower-order cognitive skills (LOCS). Undergraduate students in a junior-level animal physiology course were presented information during weekly laboratory periods, and then required to complete retrieval practices in the form of online homework assignments 5 d after each lab. Homework questions were formatted per Bloom's Taxonomy to require HOCS (i.e., level 4 or 5) or LOCS (i.e., level 1 or 2). Information retention was assessed the next week via performance on an in-class quiz and again at semesters' end via performance on a final practical exam. We observed no differences in performance on the in-class quiz or final practical exam between students randomly assigned to complete homework with HOCS questions compared to LOCS questions. However, students that received homework with HOCS questions had decreased (P < 0.05) performance scores on 9 out of the 11 homework assignments compared to those receiving homework with LOCS questions. These findings indicate that desirable difficulties were not created by our HOCS homework questions because students receiving these more difficult retrieval practices did not achieve equal success on them. As a result, this attempt to create variations in cognitive demand did not enhance retention of knowledge in this study.

Student Success and Attempts on Auto-Graded Homework Across Multiple Cohorts in Material and Energy Balances

Student success and attempts on hundreds of online homework problems housed in a fully interactive online textbook, Material and Energy Balances zyBook, were studied over three cohorts of students (n=284). Auto-graded homework questions with randomized numbers and content can explore proficiency in the course material. Students are allowed to attempt any question as many times as needed, and a median success of 94% was found. Also, students completed thousands of attempts after correctly answering without the incentive to improve grades.

YouTube: Physics Friend Not Foe

Physics students use online resources to supplement their in-class instruction and not, as commonly thought, to find the answers to homework questions.

Exploring Students’ Online Homework Completion Behaviors

With the advent of information technology, various online homework systems have often been utilized to enhance students’ knowledge and skills. Several studies analyzed the effects of web-based homework systems on students’ learning through comparing them with paper-pencil homework. However, few studies explored students’ homework completion behaviors (e.g., starting early or late to solve homework problems) in online homework settings. To fill the gap, this study examined students’ use of the WeBWorK, an online homework system, in three undergraduate mathematics courses and the impact of their usage of the system on their final exam and overall homework grades. The findings revealed that students who made more attempts on solving homework problems displayed considerably higher performance on homework and final exam than their peers having less attempts. Although students starting early to answer homework questions obtained higher homework scores than the late starters, they were unable to reflect their homework performance on the final exam.

Fewer students are benefiting from doing their homework: an eleven-year study

Performance on homework questions was compared with performance on related exam questions querying the same fact or principle, was used to assess the effect of answering online homework questions on subsequent exam performance. A distinctive pattern of performance was found for some students in which superior performance on online homework questions resulted in poorer exam performance. When assessed over an eleven-year period, for 2433 students in 12 different college lecture courses, the percent of students who did not benefit from correctly answering homework questions increased from 14% in 2008 to 55% in 2017. During the most recent two years of the study, when students were asked how they did their homework, students who benefitted from homework reported generating their own answers and students who reported copying the answers from another source did not benefit from homework.

Flow Cytometry Psychomotor Exercise in Medical Laboratory Science Curriculum Facilitates Correct Interpretation of Lymphocyte Subset Analysis

Abstract Objectives To effectively include flow cytometry psychomotor objectives in medical laboratory science curriculum as recommended in the entry-level curriculum for MLS published by the American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science. Until fall 2018, our university-based MLS program’s coursework included one to two lectures by the FC operator from the local hospital, tour of their facility, interpretation of cases using histograms, and occasional observations of analyses during clinical practicum. Hands-on performance by 18 to 20 students annually was not possible. We secured an ASCP Foundation Laboratory Science Program Educational Grant for faculty training in flow cytometry and reached out to flow cytometry core facility on the university campus for permission to use the facility with supervision and at a discounted rate. Methods Each group of three to four students spent 120 to 160 minutes at the facility, including instruction by the manager, hands-on contact running the instrument by each student, and observation of other classmates. The activity included whole-blood antibody staining prior entry to the facility and CD3/CD4/CD8 lymphocyte subset analysis using MACSQuant Analyzer 10 (Miltenyi Biotec) to distinguish normal versus abnormal control and to infer the status of an assigned deidentified patient with prior HIV-1 infection (University Biosafety IBC# 18–021). Following the experience, students completed online homework, including multiple-choice and open-ended questions, which required interpretation of images recorded during the exercise. Results Blackboard test item analysis revealed that median percent of students correctly answering each question was 88 (n = 17). Students received individual feedback on each missed question. On the final Immunology exam, 100% of students provided correct interpretation (active infection or infection under control/normal result). Conclusion The results indicated good comprehension of lymphocyte subset analysis concepts. Additional exercise in immunophenotyping is under way in the Hematology class. We believe that inclusion of the flow cytometry psychomotor objectives in the curriculum will improve the students’ preparation for practice.

Preventing Homework Copying through Online Homework in a Math Class

This article presents a potential solution to one of the prevailing issues of paper-and-pencil homework in mathematics–copying. We investigated the reasons why students copy homework and determined how they usually do it. Then, we used the information gathered to design an online homework using the features of MyOpenMath, an open source learning management system that can possibly address the limitations of traditional homework. A set of online homework that administers algorithmically generated parallel homework questions to each student, provides immediate feedback, and offers students unlimited attempts to get the problem right was developed as a result. After which, we explored how students approached the online homework and studied if it was able to prevent copying of homework among students. A class with 32 participants was observed for this endeavor. Interviews, outputs, and reflection papers from the class were analyzed to reach our aims. Two studen cases were presented to demonstrate how homework copying is usually done and to further examine and comprehend the impact of online homework. Student A narrated how online homework at MyOpenMath prevented him from copying and forced him to engage in answering homework. Student B's experience described why some students allow others to copy their homework and how the online homework led her to tutor her classmates. By and large, the MyOpenMath online homework was able to prevent copying among students and was able to generate remarkable improvement to students' homework answering practices.

Exploring the relationship between homework task difficulty, student engagement and performance

This article considers the relationship between differential homework task difficulty, student engagement and performance across four Irish post-primary school sites. A total of 236 participants completed all elements of this study. All participants were junior cycle students, aged between 12 and 16 years. The study employed a standardised test–retest approach, with a one week interval between tests. Between testing, participants were randomly subdivided into three cohorts. Each cohort received homework questions of different difficulty levels to complete for one week. The results of this study found that Cohort A, who received the least difficult homework tasks, completed the most non-compulsory questions. Although Cohort A demonstrated higher levels of engagement, no statistically significant difference was found in the change in performance scores of the three cohorts. The results highlight the negative impact of increased task difficulty on student engagement with independent homework tasks. The findings suggest that in order to support student engagement it is important that teachers afford ample opportunity for student success when designing self-directed tasks such as homework.

Justification and Proof-Writing in Calculus I through Group Homework Assignments

My goal in crafting homework in calculus is twofold: to provide scaffolding for students to develop a theoretical understanding of calculus concepts and to incorporate good mathematical exposition, including justification and proof when appropriate. I achieve these goals by creating weekly homework sets that students work on in groups of three or four, beginning in class and finishing outside of class. In this paper, we explore examples of homework questions that promote abstract thought and the details necessary to implement this system in a calculus class. We discuss the ways in which group assignments invalidate solutions found online and ease the grading burden for the instructor. We mention possible pitfalls of this approach as well as ways in which to avoid them. Finally, we discuss student attitudes and feedback on this particular method of homework.

How do general chemistry students’ impressions, attitudes, perceived learning, and course performance vary with the arrangement of homework questions and E-text?

Two large sections of first-semester general chemistry were assigned to use different homework systems. One section used MindTap, a Cengage Learning product, which presents short sections of the textbook with embedded homework questions; such that students could read the textbook section then answer one or more questions in the same screen. The other section used Online Web Learning (OWL-version 2) also from Cengage Learning, which presents homework questions that contains links to open the textbook in a separate window. Findings showed no difference between the groups in any course grades, with both groups strongly indicating that they learned from their system. During a second-semester chemistry course taught by the same instructor, all students used OWLv2. At the end of the second semester, students who had used MindTap during the first semester were given a delayed survey, containing Likert-scaled and open-response questions dealing with students’ perceived learning/perceived level of understanding with each system, how easy each system was to use, and the advantages/disadvantages of each system. In addition, students were asked to compare the two systems giving their homework preference. Students were heavily positive towards the MindTap system. Further data was collected to compare students who used MindTap for the first semester and OWL for the second-semester with those who used the systems in reverse order, using the same survey. Results showed that students indicated significantly higher perceived learning with MindTap and better attitudes and opinions of MindTap, with its single window arrangement, often citing that they read more with MindTap.

Medical Education in Infectious Diseases. Using Smartphone Apps for Active Learning

BackgroundActive Learning using smartphone technology can be implemented as a tool for teaching medical students (MS) and residents (Rs). The use of technology would increase participation and enhance student learning by engaging them in solving ID clinical case scenarios. Our objective was to describe the methods used and to share the opinions of the users of such active learning methods.MethodsThe smartphone applications used were Socrative and WhatsApp. We used Socrative during the Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas (UPC) ID course for MS in two different ways. In selected lectures (4 of 32), teacher paced questions were asked based on clinical scenarios related to the topic reviewed, and by voluntary homework questionnaires (student paced). At the British American Hospital (BAH) Medicine Department (MS and Rs) Socrative was used similarly: during some noon lectures (teacher paced questions) and during the baseline MS exam and Rs mid-year exam and voluntary homework questions (student paced). WhatsApp is currently used at the BAH with questions send from Monday to Friday. MS /Rs answer individually via WhatsApp to the mentor in charge. The right answer is given the next day. Questions using WhatsApp deal with recent cases seen at the Wards or in the outpatient clinic, and are designed so that the MS/Rs must do quick literature searches in order to provide the right answer.ResultsForty-one MS/Rs answered the survey on Socrative use, 25 of 48 (52%) of UPC MS and 16 (89%) MS/Rs from the BAH. Forty (97%) believed using Socrative had influenced their learning and all but 2 believed it promoted participation from the class. 36 (87.8%) would like to have Socrative used in other lectures and 35 (85%) in other courses. Only one person voted against Socrative use in courses or lectures. With regards to WhatsApp use 16 MS/Rs from BAH answered the survey. Six had used before WhatsApp as a teaching tool. All felt the methodology was useful for learning and promoting reading and would recommend this methodology to promote learning on a student paced way.ConclusionSocrative and WhatsApp can be used for teaching ID through MS/Rs smartphones. Most MS/Rs who were surveyed recommended the use of such methods in their education.Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.

Teaching Students to Formulate Questions

As STEM educators, we know it is beneficial to train students to think critically and mathematically during their early mathematical lives. To this end, the author teaches the College Algebra/Precalculus course in a flipped classroom version of an inquiry-based learning style. However, the techniques described in this paper can be applied to a variety of freshman and sophomore mathematics courses (and above). In particular, in this model the students read the textbook before class and formulate questions, submitted prior to class via a learning management system, about the material to be covered in class the next day. During class they solve problems about that topic, and solutions are presented and discussed before the end of the period. After class, students complete standard homework about the topic, and are encouraged to bring any unresolved homework, worksheet, or reading questions for the next class period. This paper will discuss this method of engaging students, focusing on how student questions evolve during the semester, and student feedback.

Does the Arrangement of Embedded Text Versus Linked Text in Homework Systems Make a Difference in Students Impressions, Attitudes, and Perceived Learning?

Students in a first-semester general chemistry course at a large southwestern university completed a 3-week homework assignment using MindTap, a Cengage Learning product. MindTap is the first major electronic system that has homework questions embedded in the text, such that students read a short section of the textbook and then answer a question set. Prior to MindTap, electronic homework systems were stand-alone or contained questions with links to the textbook. Next, students completed two 2-week homework assignments in Online Web Learning (OWL) version 1 also from Cengage Learning. The OWL system shows homework questions with a link to the textbook in a separate window. Both the MindTap and OWL systems contain the same or similar questions. After the students used both homework systems, a survey was given that included Likert-scaled and open-response questions that dealt with students’ perceived level of understanding using the different systems, how easy the systems were to use, and the advantages/disadvantages of each system. A delayed survey was given at the end of the second semester of general chemistry, during which students had used OWL for the complete semester. This paper investigates the effects of the arrangement (embedded vs. linked) on student preferences and perceived learning in this pilot study with a 300-person class. Based on the results of the study, it was found that students perceived that they learn more with MindTap and prefer the embedded text in MindTap over the linked text in OWL.

Scalable continual quality control of formative assessment items in an educational digital library: an empirical study

An essential component of any library of online learning objects is assessment items, for example, homework, quizzes, and self-study questions. As opposed to exams, these items are formative in nature, as they help the learner to assess his or her own progress through the material. When it comes to quality control of these items, their formative nature poses additional challenges. e.g., there is no particular time interval in which learners interact with these items, learners come to these items with very different levels of preparation and seriousness, guessing generates noise in the data, and the numbers of items and learners can be several orders of magnitude larger than in summative settings. This empirical study aims to find a highly scalable mechanism for continual quality control of this class of digital content with a minimalist amount of additional metadata and transactional data, while taking into account also characteristics of the learners. In a subsequent evaluation of the model on a limited set of transactions, we find that taking into account the learner characteristic of ability improves the quality of item metadata, and in a comparison to Item Response Theory (IRT), we find that the developed model in fact performs slightly better in terms of predicting the outcome of formative assessment transactions, while never matching the performance of IRT on predicting the outcome of summative assessment.

Teaching Tarleton

Teaching Tarleton