SimBio examines whether location affects students’ quality of learning
One benefit of building interactive tutorials with auto-graded questions is that they generate data that may be used in a variety of ways. For example, SimBio’s tutorials conclude with ten graded questions designed to help instructors track student performance, hold individuals accountable, and identify concepts their students find tricky. This can be an insightful, time-saving tool. SimBio also uses data from students that give opt-in permission (de-identified and with approval from our IRB) to improve our tools by taking a broader look at questions relevant to how students use interactive materials.
One question that became especially pertinent a couple years ago was whether students who work through our tutorials in class perform differently than those who do them at home. During the spring and fall semesters of 2022, our research team added one optional question to the end of each of four tutorial labs: where did you take this module, at home or in class? The tutorials were Darwinian Snails, DNA Explored, Understanding Experimental Design and Isle Royale. The question allowed us to compare the performance of over 13,000 students from 200+ institutions, some of whom completed the tutorials at home and some of whom worked through it in the classroom. We have extensive data showing these modules are effective at teaching core biological concepts to undergraduates (e.g. see papers here, here, here, and here) so we could really focus on whether the environment makes a difference.
Was there a difference?
As detailed in a manuscript we’re preparing for publication, the short answer is no. Students performed similarly regardless of whether they took the assessment in class or at home. All four modules told the same story; while median performance varied slightly, the difference between the two groups using a given module remained small.
If the environment where the students took the modules wasn’t impacting the score, what was? As the tutorials mentioned above are used in a wide range of courses, we next asked about the impact individual courses had on student performance. We compared all the individual classes within a module to each other. As one might expect since these modules are used in classes ranging from non-majors to upper level, we found that performance was significantly different between classes, although the effect sizes were still small.
These results are exciting because they show that well designed, interactive tutorials have similar impact on student performance whether students are guided by an instructor in class or working through the module at home. No matter where the modules are assigned, students are learning key biological concepts.
SimBio Ecology – Comprehensive ecology education
