A Short, HIGH level Overview of Mastering… I’ll share here that I’ve been using Mastering for 5+ years now in both Physics and Astronomy, and have absolutely found it to be THE most important and useful addition to my teaching that I’ve made in over 20 years. Scott Hildreth Astronomy & Physics – Chabot College – Hayward, CA

I’d share that I use Mastering in two very different types of classes, for very different types of students. Astronomy Classes (~50 students) 1st-2nd semester non-science, non-math majors 3-unit GE classes with no pre-req’s Online & On-campus sections Physics (20 – 50 students) 2nd – 3rd year Science/Engineering Majors 5-unit classes with 4 hours lecture/disc + 3 hours lab 16-18+ unit schedules + outside jobs

Goals Mastering’s Genesis How Your Students See it How YOU see it – and use it Tips, Ideas, Caveats Getting you started! I’d share that I use Mastering in two very different types of classes, for very different types of students. Astronomy Classes (~50 students) 1st-2nd semester non-science, non-math majors 3-unit GE classes with no pre-req’s Online & On-campus sections Physics (20 – 50 students) 2nd – 3rd year Science/Engineering Majors 5-unit classes with 4 hours lecture/disc + 3 hours lab 16-18+ unit schedules + outside jobs Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - April 2017

An Overview of Mastering Online Homework System with 24/7 availability Grew out of MIT’s Physics Courses early 2000’s Check out Dr. David Pritchard video Availability anywhere, anytime Deploy Questions/Offer Help to students Provide automatic feedback, grading, diagnostics While I initially saw the system as a homework tool, I’ve evolved to see it as much more. It is also a tutorial system, helping students learn with a variety of media types. It is a learning system, as wrong answers are reviewed and hints/feedback developed to address student problems. It is a teaching system, providing diagnostics to me about my students. Stress here that for me, the biggest values come with the pedagogical benefits to my students, the data available to me so that I learn how they are learning, and the ability to use the system for a variety of classes and students. Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - April 2017

Types of hints in many tutorial problems – not just one dimensional Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - April 2017

An Overview of Mastering Online Homework System with 24/7 availability But much more… Great Range of Problems, Tutorials, Quizzes Dynamic, context-specific hints & feedback Rich Diagnostics by student/class Enormous “elasticity” for use by different faculty and for different curricula While I initially saw the system as a homework tool, I’ve evolved to see it as much more. It is also a tutorial system, helping students learn with a variety of media types. It is a learning system, as wrong answers are reviewed and hints/feedback developed to address student problems. It is a teaching system, providing diagnostics to me about my students. Stress here that for me, the biggest values come with the pedagogical benefits to my students, the data available to me so that I learn how they are learning, and the ability to use the system for a variety of classes and students. Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - April 2017

Mastering is adding new features & functions I’d share that I use Mastering in two very different types of classes, for very different types of students. Astronomy Classes (~50 students) 1st-2nd semester non-science, non-math majors 3-unit GE classes with no pre-req’s Online & On-campus sections Physics (20 – 50 students) 2nd – 3rd year Science/Engineering Majors 5-unit classes with 4 hours lecture/disc + 3 hours lab 16-18+ unit schedules + outside jobs

Mastering allows us to Learn from Our Students! OK – so how do you get going?

Using Results Cannon, Annie Einstein, Al Fermi, Rico Feynman, Dick Leavitt, Henrie Pei, I.M. Schwarzschild, Xi, Hua There are great results available graphically for each assignment, providing information on student scores, time, problem difficulty, problem score, and histograms for time and score. Each can be turned on or off as required. I show students the results in general in class, and talk about some of the problems reported generically. Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - April 2017

Using Results Success by student Cannon, Annie Einstein, Al Fermi, Rico Feynman, Dick Leavitt, Henrie Pei, I.M. Schwarzschild, Xi, Hua Success by student Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - April 2017

Using Results Average Time Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - April 2017

Using Results Difficulty Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - April 2017

Using Results Score by Problem Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - April 2017

Let’s See the System - 1 Live example of my physics class from this spring, showing home screen, assignments, due dates, etc. Go to online site Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - April 2017

Ways I Use Mastering Required weekly homework assignments In-class collaborative group work Lecture – doing problems together Required reading quizzes & exams Exam Preparation Extra Credit & Remedial Help What you hopefully have seen from the example is that there are multiple types of assignments possible. Some might work for you, others might not. There isn’t just ONE right way to use the system! I’ve found that for my physics students who are science/engineering majors, a longer once-per-week HW works, but for my non-major astro students, and biological science physics students, shorter assignments seem better. You’ll know your own classes and students best – but the key thing is that I’ve found the system to be flexible enough to work for variety of uses. Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - April 2017

Getting Started! OK – so how do you get going? Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - April 2017

Creating Courses Look at Textbook editions & Available resources Mastering vs. Modified Mastering Ask your colleagues & Pearson rep… Check out Online Guide comparison There are great video clips to get you going, available in the Home page of your course (LEARN MORE) Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - April 2017

Create a course, copy in materials, set up basic info Let’s See the System - 2 Create a course, copy in materials, set up basic info Transition back: Not only are the many hints, there are different kinds of hints, and statistics are kept on EVERYTHING students access and answer… Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - April 2017

Creating Assignments Create a Standard HW category Hint options, Late penalties, # Attempts, etc. Easy to change later As you get comfortable… Add categories for quizzes, remedial, EC, Adjust credit for hints, late work, etc. Try simple editor to add/delete/enhance parts You can easily copy assignments from one course to another, changing only the due dates. There is quite a bit to say about credit for hints (or not), penalties, # of attempts, and no ONE right answer on how to use the features. Email me if you are interested in discussing options and how you might try. Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - April 2017

Massive Help Available! You can easily copy assignments from one course to another, changing only the due dates. There is quite a bit to say about credit for hints (or not), penalties, # of attempts, and no ONE right answer on how to use the features. Email me if you are interested in discussing options and how you might try. Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - April 2017

Getting Help Extensive Video Help “How do I..?” videos Ask Expert Users! Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - April 2017

Using the Item Library Sort Problems by difficulty, type, title Customize credit based on time or difficulty Track total estimated time & difficulty Add messages to enhance instructions Edit to clarify, add value, delete parts Item Library Check to see what is available with your book. You should see End of Chapter questions/problems (EOC) Skill-Builder SB Tutorial Questions Tutorial questions with stepped hints. Test Banks Imported problems in your own library or shared by others. Strategies Choose on difficulty Choose on time Choose on content Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - April 2017

Tracking Student Grades Let’s now talk about the gradebook Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - April 2017

Gradebook Views Overall Scores for every student Adjustable filters The gradebook keeps all submitted work by assignment, with color coding icons to indicate success, score, time, difficulty The left blue bar has student names, covered here for obvious privacy reasons as this is a live class shot… I don’t want anyone here who might happen to be a friend or relative of one of my students calling them up and ragging on them for doing poorly in their physics class!  Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - April 2017

Gradebook Views Assignment Scores for Individual Students Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - April 2017

Gradebook Views Specific Scores on Each Problem Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - April 2017

Gradebook Views EVERY answer given on every problem in every assignment With the ability to see every answer, it is wonderfully easy to help students – even those who email you for help the night before the assignment is due! You can login, see the error they have made, and offer specific help… Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - April 2017

Gradebook Views Change credit, extend due dates - instantly The ability to extend deadlines and adjust points is wonderful – instantly done from anywhere, and it makes a HUGE difference in student satisfaction to make such adjustments quickly. Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - April 2017

Exporting Grades Easy to export all grades to Excel with a couple of clicks… As I often have other grades in my lab courses not administered by Mastering, I tend to pull all grades down to my computer to weight and organize. It is possible, however, to keep all grades in mastering, and add categories of other work not done on Mastering to the gradebook, so that students can track their overall scores online. Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - April 2017

Let’s See the System - 3 Illustrating student results with a sample student account in my physics and astronomy classes. Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - April 2017

Familiarity breeds success… Over time, you will learn to incorporate New Tutorial Problems with effective hints Which problems need additional hints Which problems don’t work as well New ways to use the system for your classes and students. Be patient, explore, & experiment! Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - April 2017

You’ll never be the same!

I’d share that I use Mastering in two very different types of classes, for very different types of students. Astronomy Classes (~50 students) 1st-2nd semester non-science, non-math majors 3-unit GE classes with no pre-req’s Online & On-campus sections Physics (20 – 50 students) 2nd – 3rd year Science/Engineering Majors 5-unit classes with 4 hours lecture/disc + 3 hours lab 16-18+ unit schedules + outside jobs

Questions? Discussion? Check out a resource list & research http://www.chabotcollege.edu/faculty/shildreth/mastering Login to my classes to look around Email me with questions! shildreth@chabotcollege.edu Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - April 2017

Additional Ideas What Results Have I Seen Personally? What Problems Can Occur? Caveats & Gotcha’s Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - April 2017

Personal Goals Track student usage easily Take earlier, positive action Students obviously struggling Those working hard, and… Those hardly working. Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - April 2017

Personal Goals Minimize faculty learning curve use one system for both disciplines Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - April 2017

Concerns & Criticisms Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - April 2017

Concerns How much time is required to LEARN the tool on our side…. and, How much time away from key concepts is really required to teach the tool to the student? What about teaching students to diagram problems, or explain steps of a solution? What about Cheating? Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - April 2017

Concerns & Criticisms “You won’t really know what they are doing wrong without looking at paper HW” “Some problems don’t lend themselves to computer mediation” “You spend too much time teaching the tool, not the concepts.” “The tool is too complex.” “The grading system makes errors.” Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - April 2017

Caveats, Gotchas, Gremlins Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - April 2017

Caveats, Gotchas, Gremlins Incorrect Answers can occur Java Plug-in’s need updating Pay attention to Units (esp. radians vs. degrees), Significant Figures, Tolerances Gradebook can be crowded Using Groups requires manually entering grades for all members. Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - April 2017

Online is not for Everyone Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - April 2017

But on the plus side… More time to focus on teaching More information to use More flexibility than textbooks alone More accessibility Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - April 2017

Using Results There are great results available graphically for each assignment, providing information on student scores, time, problem difficulty, problem score, and histograms for time and score. Each can be turned on or off as required. I show students the results in general in class, and talk about some of the problems reported generically. Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - April 2017

Results: Overall Data gives me enormous power! How long do students spend on their HW? What do they miss? WHY do they miss it? Time saved NOT grading gives me enormous potential! Revised 20+ labs in two years Revised every lecture Staying connected with my students! Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - April 2017

Creating Courses Each class has UNIQUE course ID Shared with students Make it easier to identify your course Change “MAHILDRETH35293” to ASTRO10SPRING2017HILDRETH Note: Modified Mastering assigns ID automatically! There are great video clips to get you going, available in the Home page of your course (LEARN MORE) Scott Hildreth - Chabot College - April 2017