Online reading assignment question: pre- and post- first quiz opinions

Astronomy 210, Fall Semester 2009
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

2009-07 Quiz 01 advice Wordle
http://www.flickr.com/photos/waiferx/3948715709/
Originally uploaded by Waifer X

Wordle.net tag cloud of student advice to future semesters of Astronomy 210 students at Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA.

Students have a weekly online reading assignment (hosted by SurveyMonkey.com), where they answer questions based on reading their textbook, material covered in previous lectures, opinion questions, and/or asking (anonymous) questions or making (anonymous) comments. Full credit is given for completing the online reading assignment before next week's lecture, regardless if whether their answers are correct/incorrect. Selected results/questions/comments are addressed by the instructor at the start of the following lecture.

(The following question was asked subsequent to, and then again following the first quiz of the semester.)

How difficult do you think Quiz 1 will be? (How difficult did you think Quiz 1 was?) (Graded for completion.)
(VD) Very difficult.
(D) Difficult.
(N) Neutral.
(E) Easy.
(VE) Very easy.

Student responses (pre-test, all responses)
Sections 70158, 70160
(VD) : 9 students
(D) : 36 students
(N) : 20 students
(E) : 5 students
(VE) : 0 students

Student responses (post-test, all responses)
Sections 70158, 70160
(VD) : 2 students
(D) : 27 students
(N) : 34 students
(E) : 6 students
(VE) : 1 student

Of the 70 students who had answered the pre-test question, and the 70 students who had answered the post-test question, 55 students had answered both the pre-test and post-test questions (while 15 students answered only the pre-test, and 15 students only answered the post-test question).

Student responses (pre-test responses only, no post-test responses, N = 15)
Sections 70158, 70160
(VD) : 2 students
(D) : 8 students
(N) : 4 students
(E) : 1 student
(VE) : 0 students

Student responses (no pre-test responses, post-test responses only, N = 15)
Sections 70158, 70160
(VD) : 1 student
(D) : 6 students
(N) : 7 students
(E) : 1 student
(VE) : 0 students

Of the 55 students who answered both the pre-test and post-test questions, 24 students had no change in their opinion, while 31 students changed their opinion.

Student responses (pre-test and post-test responders, no change in opinion, N = 24)
Sections 70158, 70160
(VD) : 0 students
(D) : 11 students
(N) : 11 students
(E) : 2 students
(VE) : 0 students

Student responses (pre-test and post-test responders, change in opinion, N = 31)
Sections 70158, 70160
(VD) : pre: 7 students; post: 1 student
(D) : pre: 17 students; post: 10 students
(N) : pre: 5 students; post: 16 students
(E) : pre: 2 students; post: 3 student
(VE) : pre: 0 students; post: 1 student

A Student t-test on all 55 students who answered both the pre-test and post-test questions (24 students with no change in their opinion together with the 31 students that changed their opinion) results in p = 0.0071, and thus there is a statistically significant difference between pre-test and post-test responses.

For the students who took both and responded differently to the pre-test and post-test questions, here were the shifts:

(VD) to (D): 4 students
(VD) to (N): 1 student
(VD) to (E): 1 student
(VD) to (VE): 1 student
(D) to (VD): 1 student
(D) to (N): 14 students
(D) to (E): 2 students
(N) to (D): 5 students
(E) to (D): 1 student
(E) to (N): 1 student

"Negative shifts" in opinion (e.g., towards difficult): 8 students
"Positive shifts" in opinion (e.g., towards east): 23 students
(Compare with the 24 students with no shifts in opinion.)

Thus there was significant shift towards positive opinions regarding the first quiz, after students received had their grades.

Students were given the opportunity to reflect upon their studying and offer advice to future students before taking their first quiz; responses are listed below verbatim, and summarized graphically as a Wordle at the top of this article.

What advice would you give to a student next semester studying for Quiz 1? (Graded for completion.)

"to study notes and study them well to make sure they really do understand it. Even take one or two of the practie quizzes also!"

"read. read. read. ask a lot of questions."

"I would tell them to thoroughly go over the flashcards from all of the classes up until the Quiz. To also know the starwheel."

"Know how to use your starwheel!"

"Even if yhour sick go to class."

"dont get lazy and study"

"Pray to the star gods for righteous mastery of the star chart"

"STUDY STUDY STUDY!!! ASK QUESTIONS IF YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!!"

"Everything discussed in class was almost exactly like it on the quiz. As long as you understood everything in class, you'll do fine."

"Well, I didn't feel it was very hard, so I guess they should make sure to do the reading and pay attention in class."

"read and pay attention"

"make sure you pay attention to how you use your star wheel"

"I never took the quiz so I wouldn't know what to tell them."

"Make sure you understand moon cycles and you know how to use your star wheel."

"Sleep well the night before."

"to study moon cycles"

"practice"

"Focus on what P. Dog asks you to focus on and really understand how to use your star wheel"

"Take more notes and study more I guess."

"pay attention in class"

"To study the diagrams that are in the text book and pay attention to the in class activity."

"Read the TEXTBOOK!"

"Just try to understand the group things that you do everyday in class. If you understand all that the quiz is easy."

"Read your textbook."

"Take the quizes from the last semesters for extra practice"

"Practice flashcard questions on your starwheel to reinforce the concepts."

"Do all the practice quizzes on the 'goals' section."

"Read chapters one and two and study the slides and flashcard questions on waiferx.com."

"Really study moon phases!!"

"advice i would give a student next semester would be to study the in-class activities and to look at previous quiz questions that p-dog posts on the internet."

"Study Flash Card Questions"

"Definitely figure out the difference between AM and PM."

"I studied alot but the advice I would give is to constantly test yourself on the information you have to know."

"crossing out a wrong answer is a good idea on every question"

"study all of your notes including the hours of the day when the sun is up in different seasons."

"Be prepared for anything!"

"Make sure you understand the in class activities and the star wheel."

"study more than 20 min"

"study"

"learn the moons phases and how to use the starwheel efficiently"

"Practice using your starwheel"

"study"

"pay attention in class"

"dont over study. if you know it, you know it."

"Look back at the old tests and study from those."

"study and make sure you show up"

"use the start wheel and get make sure how to use it correctly. It will help u a lot ."

"read..."

"Do the old quizes."

"pay attention in class."

"Just pay attention to whats goin down in p-dizzles hood, keep it real."

"Be sure to understand your starwheel."

"Study all the concepts covered in the lecture."

"To study the flash card questions that everyone participated in during class time. Also to know forward and backward of how to sufficiently use the star wheel."

"have a break prior to astronomy so you can cram."

"Make sure you have a good grasp of concepts before taking the test."

"Use the quizzes on this website."

"Study, study, study.."

"Study all the questions on the sample quizzes and ask questions on things that one might not understand."

"STUDY"

"Read the chapter but don't over study it. Most the quiz questions are from work done in class."

"study or something"

"Study"

"study more than i did"

"remember the stuff from the first day, and possibly study a little bit"

"learn from your group members, and study not from the book but p dog's lectures."

"Go to office hours if you don't understand somthing"

"ask questions"

"Listen to P-Dogg! He knows his stuff! UHHHHH. And study those practice quizzes and ask questions!
try to remember all the in-class activities that were presented in class."