|
Online Learning News and Research
|
Monday, April 28, 2003
Priming the Pump for Better Classroom Performance - Kathleen O'Toole, Stanford Business
When economist Paul Romer arrived at the Graduate School of Business in 1996, he assumed he would be teaching some of the smartest, most disciplined adults in the nation and there would be no need for pop quizzes. "They were old enough to make their own choices. If they paid their tuition and went to the golf course instead of my class on macroeconomics, that was fine with me," he recalls thinking. It wasn't long, however, before the MBA students were grumbling. Romer might be the esteemed father of new growth theory, but having the option to listen to him wasn't enough. They wanted him to push harder so they would learn more. Out of this experience, a company that just might revolutionize higher education instruction was born. Aplia Inc. began selling Internet-based software to college teachers of economics last fall, and preliminary results look promising. According to one professor, Kristen Monaco of California State University, Long Beach: "Now that my students are using Aplia, they're coming to class more prepared." Adds Professor Melanie Marks of Longwood College in Farmville, Va.: "For the past several years, my testing style has been exactly the same and my average on the first test was always around 74. … The only change I have made this semester is that I am using Aplia for practice problems and quizzes. My students just averaged an 81 on my first test."
Comments:
Post a Comment
Online Learning News Blog Archives OTEL - Ray's Home Page - Notebook - UIS Online - U of I Online - UIS Home Fair Use |
Online Learning Update 
