Repackaging the Introductory IS Survey Course: An Information

Technology Solution

Sharen BakkeCleveland State University

Is this familiar?

Introducing …

A Unique Curriculum

Objective

1. Enjoyable classroom experience2. Students can regulate the learning

process3. Electronic administration and grading

Effectiveness

Pedagogical Considerations

Positive learning experience

Active learning techniques

Giving students a choice

Practice opportunities

Formative assessment

1. Enjoyable Classroom Experience

Environment Rapport Guided lectures In class quizzes to earn tokens

Single: 1 student - 1 question – 10 seconds

Teams: 2 teams - 2 students – 3 questions within certain time period

Group: 1 team - 4 students – 10 questions within certain time period – whole class helps

Token Awards

Gift Type Variation Options Points

Due date extension

Quiz/

Homework

1 – 5 days .3 - 4

Erase a grade Retake a quiz 4.5

Additional submission

Submit 1 more homework

.15

Rewind Late assignments

Assessed a late fee

.5

2. Students can regulate the learning process

Homework completed and graded online range of due dates may be submitted 3 times – last one counts

Quizzes Administered in a computer lab - proctored Range of due dates Open book/ open note/ open application

Prerequisite practice exercises Must be completed successfully before taking quiz

Prerequisite Practice Exercises

Selecting from the Gift Catalog

Extra-Credit Opportunities

Early-bird specials

Pop questions that randomly appear while online

3. Electronic Administration and

Grading

Homework and Quizzes created graded recorded

Game shows set up administered

Tokens created redeemed

Calendar Student information Communication Grades

ORION – online classroom management application

Managing the Tokens

Effectiveness of the new curriculum

Sample Large introductory IS course mid-western public university

Quiz scores 5 semesters before 5 semesters after Compared difference between quiz 1 and

quiz 5 Student comments

Empirical Results Ha= Quiz scores for students after the

implementation of the new curriculum are higher than quiz scores obtained before the new curriculum was adopted

Independent sample t-test: quiz score differences Before: M = .3422 SD = 14.88 After: M = -3.85 SD = 13.9 T(3317) = -8.378, p = 0.00 significant

Research hypothesis was confirmed

Student Comments ORION lets me do things when I want to –

I like that

I like the feedback ORION gives me – it helps me get my work done

ORION keeps me focused and requires me to do the work

the pop extra credit is nice - I used the points several times to buy gifts from the catalog

the chatroom is a good way to get help from other students

Conclusions The class is fun and entertaining compared to

the traditional approach

Students successfully self-regulate the learning process

Class is almost completely administered electronically through ORION

Greatest impact completing prerequisite exercises successfully

before taking quizzes tackle more challenging topics