Using Harvard one-minute papers to improve the first year experienceA Kay Plummer, Warwick Baines, Nick Davis,

Kristy Fitzmaurice, Donata Muntean, Nick Pawsey

What is the one-minute paper?Two questions asked at the end of the lesson

What is the big point you learned in class today?

What is the main, unanswered question you leave class with today?

(Cross and Angelo 1988)Students spend one-minute writing the

answers and then put the anonymous papers in a box as they leave the class.

Before the next class lecturers use the feedback to provide ideas for revision for the next class.

What are the benefits of the one-minute paper at HarvardStudents listen more actively in classImprovement in students writing with more

considered answers being provided during the later weeks in the semester

Students were able to identify where they needed special assistance or where they needed to prepare more effectively

Students to realise and document that they had learnt something in their classes

(Light p38, 1990)

Are there more benefits of the one-minute paper process?Teacher demonstrates respect for and

interest in student opinionInform the revision process at the start of the

next classStudents don’t wait until the end of the

semester to identify their problem learning areas

Possibly have an impact on retention if students don’t get ‘lost’ in their learning

Encourages the students active involvement in the learning process

What were we hoping to find

Students recognising an improvement in their learning.

Student reflections improving over the semester –suggested by Biggs (2003).

Students would use the reflections as a study resource.

How we used the one-minute paperUsed in ACC100 Accounting 1 a subject completed by

all business studentsFace-to-face student load - 1hr lecture 2hr tutorialHarvard paper provided in booklet form at end of

each tutorialAll student responses collectedProblem areas addressed at start of subsequent

lecture and tutorialStudents given back all one-minute papers to aid in

exam preparationQuestionnaire on impact of one-minute paper in last

class in semester

What we found – Likert scale responses

Reflec

tion

proc

ess a

ssiste

d m

y lea

rnin

g

Revisio

n in

lect

ures

ass

isted

und

erst

andi

ng.

Revisio

n in

tuto

rials a

ssiste

d un

ders

tand

ing

The re

flectio

n pr

oces

s was

a w

aste

of t

ime

Learn

ing

acco

untin

g was

eas

y1

2

3

4

5

Student end of semester responses to use-fulness of Harvard one-minute paper

process

Sto

ngly

dis

agre

e 1

- S

trongly

agre

e 5

The reflection process assisted my learning

Stongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Reflection process assisted my learning

Num

ber

of

student

rresp

onse

s

What we found – open ended questionsPositive responses Negative responsesThings that were found

difficult was addressed at the beginning of the following lecture and tute

Forced you to say what you were struggling with

Great as it is, simple & does not require too much effort on behalf of the person giving feedback

I don't actually understand what the reflection books are used for outside of the tutorial & if they have any effect on future teaching

Felt like it was just a rush at the end of the class to do. Hard to express everything you wanted to say

More specific questions & detailed lists of topics that we could tick if we need help

What we found – lecturer and tutor feedbackLecturer and tutors would all use the process again.All tutors expressed a view similar to this “…

students initially approached the feedback books with a good amount of enthusiasm and positively viewed our willingness to adapt our teaching tasks to reflect their changing needs”

Students were tired by the end of the tutorials and just wanted to get away and this may have impacted on the quality of their reflections.

Students did not seem to understand that the reflection and writing would help their learning even after being advised that it would.

Development of student reflections over the semesterThere was no obvious reflection development

over the semester.Reflections generally more detailed at the

start of the semester than at the end

Comparison of resultsResults for 200940

Results for 200840

GRADE HD DI CR PS FLNO. STUDENTS 7 26 28 35 13PERCENT TOTAL 6.4% 23.9% 25.7% 32.1% 11.9%

GRADE HD DI CR PS FLNO. STUDENTS 4 12 18 40 25PERCENT TOTAL 4.0% 12.1% 18.2% 40.4% 25.3%

Results of First Semester On and Off-Campus AccountingStudents Over a Three Year Period

Cohort Mean St Deviation

Number

On-campus students

2007 56.5183 18.85753 108

2008 58.9535 16.76996 99

2009 66.1294 13.60316 109

Off-campus students

2007 63.3222 18.8575 184

2008 64.7616 16.65838 193

2009 65.2459 16.64686 203

Significant difference (p<.001) between 2008 an 2009 on-campus students.

Warning about interpretation of resultsThere were other activities in the semester as

well as the one-minute papers which could have had an impact on student performance

There is no comparison of the initial ability of the two cohorts so that the 2009 cohort may have had greater ability

Unexpected resultsStudents tired at end of class, want to get

away and do not put the time into the one minute paper

Students do not know how to reflect on own learning – are not self aware learners