A Decade of Information Technology in On-Campus Education

1. A Decade of Information Technology in On-Campus Education M. Thoennessen, E. Kashy, G. Albertelli, D.A. Kashy Supported by : Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Michigan State University National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory

2. CAPA • CAPA : Computer Assisted Personalized Approach • Developed in the College of Natural Science at Michigan State University • First time implemented in 1993 in a course of the Department of Physics & Astronomy • Emerged from the need to improve the education in large introductory classes • At MSU introductory physics classes have >250 students

3. Concerns in Large Lecture Classes • Impersonal nature of instruction • Large differences in student preparation • Achieving and maintaining high standards • Large human resources required for grading • Timely recognition of students’ problems and difficulties • Copying assignments - cheating on exams

4. Computer-Assisted Personalized Approach • Individualized homework, quizzes and exams • Comprehensive networked system • Emphasis on conceptual understanding • Automatic grading and record keeping • Online statistical analysis and feedback • Communications with students on their performance

5. CAPA Implementation at MSU • Use of the system by student is “optional” • Easy access via telnet or WWW • No penalty for multiple tries • Supplementary practice problems • Quizzes: monitor learning and measure attendance • Exams: + Partial credit by midterm exam correction • Printed Individualized Assignments

6. CAPA for the Instructor • Automatic grading by the computer • Immediate feedback to the student • More interaction with students • Complete on-line up-to-date records • On-line feedback and analysis: • Pinpoint difficulties with current material • Monitor student progress to detect problems early • Objective assessment of overall student performance • Viewed by students as mentor, not judge.  Increase student interaction not decrease !

7. Individualized Questions Kashy, Ed Section 1 SampleCAPAQuestions Set 1 nsc111f7 -MSU- Due Tue, January 15, 2002 at 08:00 CAPA ID is 6352 4. [1pt] Match each city with the region in which it is located. (If the First corresponds to B, and the next 6 to C, Enter BCCCCCC) 1) Sapporo 2) Yokoyama A. Shikoku 3) Kochi B. Chubu 4) Kanazawa C. Kanto 5) Tokyo D. Kinki 6) Nagoya E. Hokkaido 7) Osaka Thoennessen, Michael Section 1 SampleCAPAQuestions Set 1 nsc111f7 -MSU- Due Tue, January 15, 2002 at 08:00 CAPA ID is 7727 4. [1pt] Match each city with the region in which it is located. (If the First corresponds to B, and the next 6 to C, Enter BCCCCCC) 1) Kochi 2) Tokyo A. Kinki 3) Kyoto B. Hokkaido 4) Nagoya C. Shikoku 5) Sapporo D. Kanto 6) Osaka E. Chubu 7) Kanazawa

8. Davis, Nancy Section 2 SampleCAPAQuestions Set 1 nsc111f7 - MSU - Due Fri, January 16, 1998 at 08:00 CAPA ID is 3654 5. [2pt] Asteroids X,Y,Z have equal mass (9.0 kg each). They orbit around the planet with M = 4.0*1024 kg. The orbits are in the plane of the paper and are drawn to scale. Select G-Greater than, L-Less than, or E-Equal to. A) The angular momentum of X at 7 is … that at 1. B) At 5, Y’s angular velocity is … that at 1. C) The period of X is … that of Z. D) The angular velocity of X at 3 is … that at 7. E) X’s angular momentum is… that of Y. F) The period of Y is … that of X. G) At 1, Y’s angular velocity is … that of X. Tsai, Isaac Section 2 SampleCAPAQuestions Set 1 nsc111f7 - MSU - Due Fri, January 16, 1998 at 08:00 CAPA ID is 1656 5. [2pt] Asteroids X,Y,Z have equal mass (5.0 kg each). They orbit around the planet with M = 3.0*1024 kg. The orbits are in the plane of the paper and are drawn to scale. Select G-Greater than, L-Less than, or E-Equal to. A) The period of Y is … that of X. B) At 1, Z’s angular velocity is … that of Y. C) Z’s angular momentum is… that of Y. D) The period of Y is … that of Z. E) At 2, Z’s angular velocity is … that at 1. F) The angular momentum of Y at 6 is … that at 1. G) The angular velocity of Y at 3 is … that at 6. Individualized Questions in CAPA

9. Online Feedback for the Instructor

10. Three Components of Assessment Student Surveys and Comments Project Assessment Instructor Feedback Examination Performance

11. Typical Student Response CAPA as Tool for Learning/Understanding

12. Work Comparison: With/Without CAPA

13. Instructors Responses • I have not heard of anyone who has used the system and has not liked it…. Overall, CAPA has been the best thing I have ever encountered. (Prof. F. Wolfs, University of Rochester) • It appears to be a very effective tool to help students grasp concepts and to stimulate dialogue among them. (Prof. J. Rappaport, Ohio University)

14. Technology Impact Prof. Danielewicz (Physics)

15. Change of Grade Distributions: 1992 to 1999

16. CAPA Use

17. U.S.: 70 Institutions 33 States Central Michigan University, MI Michigan State University, MI Hope College, MI T&T Educational Services, MI University of Michigan, MI Wayne State University University of Notre Dame, IN University of Indiana at South Bend, IN Ohio Wesleyan University, OH University of Ohio, OH University of Toledo, OH University of Akron, OH University of Kentucky, KY Montana State University, MT University of Kansas, KS University of Nebraska, NE Idaho State University, ID Iowa State University, IA Milwaukee School of Engineering, WI Minnesota State University at Moorhead, MN Oakland University, MN University of Illinois at Chicago, IL University of Washington, WA Washington State University, WA University of Oregon, OR Oregon State University, OR Casper College, WY Bowdoin College, ME Penquis Valley High School, ME Harvard University, MA Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, NY Colgate University, NY University of Rochester, NY University of Buffalo, NY Adelphi University, NY SUNY-Geneseo, NY SUNY-Binghampton, NY SUNY-Stony Brook, NY SUNY-Farmingdale. NY Suffolk Community College, NY Allegheny College, PA Pennsylvania State University, PA George Washington University, DC Christopher Newport University, VA Radford University, VA University of North Carolina, NC North Carolina State University, NC University of South Carolina, SC Morris College, SC East Tennessee State, University, TN University of Tennessee, TN University of Colorado, CO Colorado School of Mines, CO University of Nevada Reno, NV Truckee Meadows Community College, NV Northern Arizona University, AZ University of Oklahoma, OK Baylor University, TX LeTourneau University, TX Texas A&M University, TX University of Houston, TX University of Texas at El Paso, TX Pasadena City College, CA San Diego State University, CA Lyon College, AK Florida State University, FL University of Florida, FL University of Central Florida, FL Florida International University, FL University of Alabama at Birmingham, AL Austin Peay State University, TN

18. Brandon University, Brandon, Manitoba Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia McGill University, Montreal, Quebec McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, New Foundland Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia Selwyn House School, Westmount, Quebec St. Mary’s University, Halifax, Nova Scotia The University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, Manitoba uuserve&, London, Ontario Worldwide: 96 Institutions (26 non U.S.) 14 Countries 6 Continents Helsinki University of Technology, Helsinki, Finland University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria Tamkang University, Taipei, Taiwan PT SuperSiswa DotCom, Jakarta, Indonesia University of the South Pacific, Suva, Fiji Australian National University, Canberra, Australia Planet Communication, Auckland, New Zealand Catholic University of Goias, Brazil Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas Brazil Universidad del Bio-Bio, Chillan, Chile Universidad Tecnica Federico Santa Maria, Valparaiso, Chile Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel Jerusalem College of Engineering, Jerusalem, Israel University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel Liqwid Krystal Bangalore, India University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa

19. Impact of Technology for Women and Men • Are there differences for woman and men? • In the U.S. women traditionally appear to be at a disadvantage in the sciences. • CAPA helps to eliminate these differences • It offers the chance to work hard and be rewarded • Women use this opportunity more than men

20. Grade Differences for Female and Male Relative difference between female and male performance on exams in an introductory physics course.  Technology helps women to improve

21. Student Use of Technology • Overall student acceptance of CAPA is very good • It helps students who are willing to learn • Unfortunately there are students who want to “beat” the system • Use the Web to interact with other students • Good, if they explain the problems • Bad, if they just copy solutions or share equations

23. Make cheating more difficult than actually learning the material 2. [2pt] A 4.30 kg beam has a length 1.30 m and is suspended in a horizontal position as shown. There are 10 equally spaced attachment points, 13.0 cm apart with three masses hanging from the beam. A thin cable attached 13.0 cm from the end makes an angle of 53.0º with the wall as shown. The masses are N = 8.00 kg, O = 6.00 kg, P = 3.00 kg. Calculate the tension in the cable. 2. [2pt] A 3.90 kg beam has a length 1.20 m and is suspended in a horizontal position as shown. There are 10 equally spaced attachment points, 12.0 cm apart with three masses hanging from the beam. A thin cable attached 12.0 cm from the end makes an angle of 35.0º with the wall as shown. The masses are N = 4.00 kg, O = 8.00 kg, P = 5.00 kg. Calculate the tension in the cable.

24. Use interactive applets on the web as problems

25. Conclusions • Technology can be highly effective as a complementary teaching/learning tool • It can improve the learning and understanding significantly • It is important to use the new capabilities of the web and not just transfer traditional material • It is essential that instructors ensure high quality of material, because… …the Web clearly has the potential to make terrible instruction that much more available (M.D. Milliron, Oracle Corp., June 1999)

26. Additional Information Recent Publication: “Implementing a Large On-Campus ALN: Faculty Perspective” E. Kashy et al., Journal of ALN, Vol. 4, Issues 3 (2000) http://www.aln.org/alnweb/journal/jaln-vol4issue3.htm For more information: http://capa.msu.edu CAPA is available for free at: http://msuvmall.msu.edu/imc/