William Birmingham Vincent F. DiStasi and Gary Welton ASEE Conference June, 2009 Austin, TX 1ASEE 2009: DyKnow

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 Studied Active Learning Software/Tablet PCs for several years  Faculty highly satisfied with software/Tablet PCs  Students are neutral about satisfaction compared with other computer-based technologies  Student who like DyKnow are: ◦ Motivated to learn ◦ Like receiving faculty notes ◦ Are active learners 3ASEE 2009: DyKnow

 1:1 Tablet PC program now in sixth year ◦ 16 th year for 1:1 laptop/TabletPC program  Ubiquitous computing ◦ Networking (wired & wireless) in all classrooms, most places on campus  Reduced technology costs ◦ Retire almost all general computer labs ◦ Retain specialized labs 4ASEE 2009: DyKnow

 Study long-term use and satisfaction ◦ Dyknow and Classroom Presenter ◦ Tablet PCs ◦ Impact on learning:  Note taking  Active learning  Population: faculty and students across the college ◦ Science and Engineering ◦ Humanities  Study is in its 3 rd year 5ASEE 2009: DyKnow

 Active learning: student-faculty engagement in the class ◦ Socratic style in a modern setting  Research points to the benefits of active learning ◦ Students retain more of the lecture material ◦ Students immediately exercise concepts  It can be painful ◦ Lecture is no longer a place to surf the web or to sleep ◦ Falling can lead to painful experiences in classroom ◦ Responsibility more clearly lies with student in learning ◦ Some ingrained habits (notetaking) don’t work 6ASEE 2009: DyKnow

 Classroom Presenter, DyKnow  Instantly transmit prepared or extemporaneous content to student screens ◦ Progressive disclosure of content. ◦ Content can be freehand, PowerPoint, web, etc.  Collaborative note taking  Student response tools  Content replay  Collect, grade and return student work

 Note: DyKnow is a proxy for active learning  General evaluation plan ◦ Survey students and faculty in “DyKnow classes” in initial years ◦ Survey general population on  Learning style  Note taking style  Attitudinal: active learning, technology in the classroom, motivation for learning 8ASEE 2009: DyKnow

 Fall 2006: DyKnow without interactive features.  Spring 2007: DyKnow using interactive features. ◦ Faculty and students participate in the Index of Learning Styles © (ILS), created by Felder and Soloman.  Spring 2008: General use of DyKnow ◦ General population ILS survey  Fall, 2008: General use of DyKnow ◦ General population ILS survey ◦ General population “personal factors” 9ASEE 2009: DyKnow

 Assess preferred learning styles on four dimensions. ◦ Visual: prefer visual representation of material ◦ Verbal: prefer written and spoken explanations ◦ Sequential: linear thinking process, learn in incremental steps ◦ Global: holistic thinking process, learn in large leaps ◦ Sensing: concrete, practical, oriented toward facts and procedures ◦ Intuitive: conceptual, innovative, oriented toward theories and underlying meanings ◦ Active: learn by trying things out, enjoy working in groups ◦ Reflective: learn by thinking things through, prefer working alone or with one or two familiar partners 10ASEE 2009: DyKnow

 Student evaluation marginally below midpoint ◦ M = 2.63/5; SD= 0.98  Satisfaction rating varied from course to course ◦ 2.25 to 3.75 ◦ Most favorable rating where DyKnow use was voluntary  Students rated themselves as proficient with DyKnow (M = 4.61/7) and faculty as proficient (M=4.62/7) 11ASEE 2009: DyKnow

 *To what extent do you think DyKnow enhances your understanding of material and concepts as they are presented in class in comparison to a class that uses … Question Spring 2007 Mean and sd (N = 154) Spring 2008 Mean and sd (N = 294) *lecture and chalkboard?M = 4.18, sd = 1.82M = 4.04, sd = 1.68 *overhead transparencies?M = 4.50, sd = 1.63M = 4.45, sd = 1.64 *PowerPoint or OneNote?M = 3.71, sd = 1.63M = 3.66, sd = 1.53 Global SatisfactionM = 4.12, sd = 1.52M = 4.06, sd = = DyKnow provides a very significant disadvantage. 4 = DyKnow provides neither and advantage nor a disadvantage. 7 = DyKnow provides a very significant advantage. 12ASEE 2009: DyKnow

Question All Students Using DyKnow enhances my understanding of course material. M = 3.18 Using DyKnow provides me with a better set of notes. M = 3.61 I am more attentive during class because DyKnow is used. M = 2.77 I am more confident during exams when I have studied material from my DyKnow notes as compared to when I have studied from traditional paper notes. M = = Strongly Disagree 4 = Neither Disagree or Agree 7 = Strongly Agree 13ASEE 2009: DyKnow

 Data and written comments show large disparity in student satisfaction  Satisfaction of DyKnow versus other technologies  How do we explain these things? ◦ Technology bias (for or against) ◦ Technology learning curve  Student motivation seemed important … ASEE 2009: DyKnow14

 Students who completed all three surveys: DyKnow, ILS, personal factors ◦ N=166 (students completing all three surveys in Fall, 2009) ASEE 2009: DyKnow15 MeanStan DevScale TECHBIAS to 6 Active vs reflective to 11 MOTIV to 7 NOTETAKING to 5 GLOBALSAT to 7

 TECHBIAS has little effect ◦ Reflected in different bias where CS students are less likely to be satisfied with DyKnow than general population  Students with intrinsic motivation to learn the material tend to be satisfied with DyKnow  Active Learners tend to be more satisfied ASEE 2009: DyKnow16 Variableβ-weight t obs p TECHBIAS <.001 Active v Reflective MOTIV NOTETAKING

 The paradox: ◦ Too many notes: students loose attention ◦ Too few notes: reflective students can’t reflect ◦ Students who like lots of notes like DyKnow ASEE 2009: DyKnow17

 The following dimensions showed statistically significant correlations ◦ Visual learners more positive reaction toward DyKnow. ◦ Sequential learners more positive reaction toward DyKnow. 18ASEE 2009: DyKnow

 On average, students are neutral about Dyknow ◦ About half of the students are relatively neutral ◦ About one quarter like it, and one quarter don’t  Of the students who like Dyknow: ◦ Intrinsically motivated to learn ◦ Like “delivered” notes ◦ Like active learning ◦ Tend to like technology in the classroom  On average, faculty are strongly positive about Dyknow 19ASEE 2009: DyKnow

 Microsoft Corporation for funding through the University Relations Tablet PC and Higher Education.  DyKnow for continued support of this research. 20ASEE 2009: DyKnow

 *To what extent do you think DyKnow enhances your teaching of material and concepts as they are presented in class in comparison to a class that uses … Question Faculty, (N = 21) Mean and sd *lecture and chalkboard?M = 6.14, sd = 0.91 *overhead transparencies?M = 6.29, sd = 0.72 *PowerPoint or OneNote?M = 5.57, sd = 0.98 Global SatisfactionM = 6.00, sd = = DyKnow provides a very significant disadvantage. 4 = DyKnow provides neither and advantage nor a disadvantage. 7 = DyKnow provides a very significant advantage. Students, (N = 154) Mean and sd M = 4.18, sd = 1.82 M = 4.50, sd = 1.63 M = 3.71, sd = 1.63 M = 4.12, sd = ASEE 2009: DyKnow

22ASEE 2009: DyKnow

23ASEE 2009: DyKnow

 It gives a false sense of security, you don't have to pay attention because you get the notes straight from DyKnow. This becomes a problem when studying the notes and they are unclear and difficult to understand.  It's the actual TAKING of the notes that helps me the most. When they are given to me, I am simply an observer, and learn not nearly as much.  I like to take notes actively. I think that the actual act of writing something down for yourself helps people learn.  If anything, I paid attention less because the slides and notes were given to me. I pay more attention in a class with chalkboard notes. 24ASEE 2009: DyKnow

 It was really nice not having to worry about writing down everything the professor was writing down, and I now have a very detailed set of notes that are fairly easy to study.  I like DyKnow because I can get the outline of a professor's notes and I can add my own notes on top of that. Also, in this class, I didn't need to copy very difficult diagrams and drawings.  DyKnow took notes for me so I could focus on the concepts; not frantically taking notes. 25ASEE 2009: DyKnow

 DyKnow is a very effective tool for teaching Mathematics because it combines the spontaneity of a blackboard lecture with the structure and reproducibility of a PowerPoint lecture. Also, the time-consuming, embarrassing, and inefficient practice of having students work at the blackboard in front of their peers is replaced by an (optionally anonymous) efficient process in which students work individually and the instructor can choose which solution to critique.  DyKnow allows the ability to teach using a multitude of techniques all in one product. The main idea is not to do everything for the students but help them grasp the information. 26ASEE 2009: DyKnow

 Polling and panel management are GREAT! I miss animations that PowerPoint support.  DyKnow was great for marking up code segments and explaining what the code accomplished, in some cases line-by-line.  I did not require the students to use DyKnow. About 1/4 to 1/3 of the students chose to use the program. 27ASEE 2009: DyKnow

 Test hypothesis that students who are intrinsically motivated to learn the material would respond more favorably to this form of active learning ◦ Campus-wide survey of student motivation toward learning. ◦ Analyze relationships among this survey data, learning styles and DyKnow satisfaction measures.  Education: the major factor ◦ Faculty:  Help students understand the value and process of taking better notes. ◦ Students:  Improve proficiency  Improve note taking methods 28ASEE 2009: DyKnow

 Courses – Fall 2006 ◦ BUSA 201 – Business Statistics ◦ COMP 204 – Technologies of Instruction ◦ COMP 222 – Data Structures ◦ COMP 305 – Ethics in the Computing Profession ◦ COMP 441 – Computer Game Design and Development ◦ COMP 445 – Introduction to Artificial Intelligence ◦ ENGR 274 – Mathematical Methods in Engineering ◦ MECE 201 – Fundamentals of Material Science ◦ MECE 311 – Mechanics of Materials ◦ MUSI 221 – Music Technology ◦ PHYS 206 – Astronomy ◦ POLS 101 – Foundations of Political Science ◦ PSYC 203 – Statistical Methods ◦ PSYC 403 – Advanced Statistics ◦ SCIC 203 – Atoms, Molecules and the Material World ◦ SCIC 204 – Environmental Science ◦ SOCI 227 – Social Research Methods ◦ SSFT 212 – Science, Faith and Technology 29ASEE 2009: DyKnow

 Courses – Spring 2007 ◦ BUSA 201 – Business Statistics ◦ CHEM 252 – Instrumental Methods and Seminar ◦ COMP 204 – Technologies of Instruction ◦ COMP 220 – Computer Programming II ◦ COMP 222 – Data Structures ◦ COMP 252 – Computer Architecture and Organization ◦ COMP 314 – Foundations of Computer Science ◦ COMP 422 – Introduction to Algorithms ◦ COMP 442 – Web Programming Technologies ◦ COMP 450 – Software Engineering ◦ ENGR 274 – Mathematical Methods in Engineering ◦ HUMA 201 – Civilization and the Speculative Mind ◦ MATH 141 – Business Calculus ◦ MECE 206 – Engineering Graphics ◦ MECE 326 – Heat Transfer ◦ MECE 390 – Special Mechanical Engineering Topics ◦ MECE 407 – Control Systems ◦ PHYS 206 – Astronomy ◦ POLS 101 – Foundations of Political Science ◦ PSYC 203 – Statistical Methods ◦ SCIC 203 – Atoms, Molecules and the Material World ◦ SCIC 204 – Environmental Science ◦ SOCI 227 – Social Research Methods ◦ SSFT 212 – Science, Faith and Technology 30ASEE 2009: DyKnow