Imagine being able to give your students a tool that puts them in the driver’s seat of their individual learning journeys.
Revel is an innovative teaching and learning platform that transforms passive education into an interactive experience. By assigning coursework within Revel, you’ll inspire students and elevate learning outcomes. You’ll also make your life easier.
“It’s the best textbook I’ve ever read because there is no fluff and it’s easy to read,” says an economics student at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG). “You actually want to read it.”
A textbook college students want to read?
Unusual though it may seem, many economics students at UNCG express comments like these, ever since their professor began using Revel: Microeconomics Interactive, 1st Edition by Parkin, Bade, and Sarbaum.
In the computer science department at Houston Community College, instructors Anci Shah and Suma Roa undertook a transformative journey with Revel.
In 2019, Suma initiated a pilot of Revel. Impressed by the platform’s digital narrative, online homework features, and diverse resources, Suma shared her enthusiasm with her colleagues, prompting the department chair Anci to consider Revel's adoption.
The student learning experience was a key consideration for Anci and her department committee. They saw that, as the number of online courses being created at Houston Community College increased, Revel's interactivity would prove vital to enabling students in those courses to succeed.
"The concepts are kept to a minimum, and the readings aren't too long, and then there are all those little checks in there,” says Anci. “My students have commented on how helpful that has been."
Suma echoes this sentiment, praising the variety of practical features in Revel that help promote active learning, including built-in search, note taking, and flashcard functionalities.
Another important factor for the committee was finding a courseware solution that could meet each student wherever they are in their learning journey. They appreciated that Revel provided a bridge for students with varying levels of digital literacy to learn the material and stay engaged in their courses.
“I have definitely had a lot of students say that Revel really helped them,” Anci says. "I have received feedback that the animations and videos are what helped them understand the material a lot better.”
Students can test their understanding through quizzes and self-checks in Revel. Suma often advises her students to complete these questions prior to taking assessments because, “they are a good way to gauge their topic mastery and provide ample opportunity for studying."
Revel's accessibility – specifically via the Revel mobile app – impressed students and instructors alike. Suma notes, "They no longer have any excuses that they don't have their textbook because they always have their phones.”
The committee also assessed Revel based on LMS integration and publisher support.
"The grades in Revel are incorporated into our LMS very easily,” says Suma. “We can incorporate them with the click of a button, so that's been very, very helpful." Indeed, she and her colleagues found that integrating Revel into Houston Community College’s existing learning management system helped streamline various administrative processes.
Overall, Revel surpassed the computer science department’s expectations, leading to its adoption for the courses Program Fundamentals 1, 2, and 3.
When asked whether she would recommend Revel to other instructors, Anci says definitely and references the overarching goal of Revel: student success.
“If you are looking at one book versus another, Revel is the one that has all the animations and embedded assessments to help students. Why would you not choose it?” she says. “We just want our students to be successful, and Revel can help.”
Revel was purposely built for students and instructors. The platform has emerged as a catalyst for transformative education, enriching the experiences of computer programming students at Houston Community College and setting a standard for comprehensive, engaging learning.
Read more about Dr. Anci Shah and Dr. Suma Roa’s experience with Revel in the full instructor spotlight.
What can Revel do for you and your students? Learn more about Revel.
North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (North Carolina A&T) is the leading public historically black college and university (HBCU). This renowned institution demonstrates its commitment to diversity and inclusivity with a student body of 13,300, where 89% are underrepresented minorities. Offering an impressive array of 54 undergraduate and 41 graduate degrees, the university provides first-class education to all.
The key figure in this educator spotlight is Dr. Antoinette Maldonado-Devincci, an instructor at North Carolina A&T since 2016. She has made a remarkable impact on her students by incorporating Revel into her Biological Psychology (PSYC 361) course. Her choice to adopt Revel was driven by its contemporary, student-friendly content, which explores emerging areas like epigenetics.
However, it's not just the content that makes Revel stand out for Dr. Maldonado-Devincci. She found Revel's interactive features and diverse resources to be highly effective in catering to different learning styles, resulting in increased student engagement. She compares Revel to "MindTap on steroids," highlighting the wealth of resources the platform offers to get students involved in the learning process, such as the shared writing assignments, which replace traditional discussion boards. They foster peer interaction and significantly reduce her grading workload.
One of the core strengths of Revel, according to Dr. Maldonado-Devincci, is the ability to provide multiple avenues for students to earn grades outside of traditional testing methods that are less intimidating than standard exams. The platform's iterative approach to learning, alongside bite-sized chunks of content and in-chapter quizzes, fosters a less punitive assessment process than a single high-stakes exam. This approach not only eases the pressure on students but also creates a more supportive and constructive learning environment.
Revel's efficiency simplifies content management and diminishes the burden of grading for Dr. Maldonado-Devincci, allowing her to assign content and quizzes without being overwhelmed by grading responsibilities. The platform's intuitive course creation and management features are user-friendly, benefiting experienced users and adjunct instructors. Dr. Maldonado-Devincci appreciates the convenience Revel offers, making her teaching experience seamless.
In Dr. Maldonado-Devincci's words, "I appreciate being able to assign all the content and quizzes, so they get more interaction with the material without overloading me when it comes to the grading aspect of it."
Pearson's dedicated support has been pivotal in Dr. Maldonado-Devincci's success with Revel. A Pearson representative provided essential support during course creation and the first semester.
Dr. Antoinette Maldonado-Devincci's Revel success story at North Carolina A&T underscores the transformative impact of digital learning platforms. A combinations of Revel's engaging content, diverse resources, and Pearson's support have empowered her as an educator and enriched the learning experience for her students.
Read more about Dr. Maldonado-Devincci's experience with Revel in the full instructor spotlight.
What can Revel do for you and your students?
Some may think they know Revel; some people call it a digital textbook but they would be wrong. It’s so much more than that. Luckily, Pearson is here to reintroduce you to the real Revel. Revel is a comprehensive, dynamic education platform grounded in the subject matter expertise of world-class authors. Purposefully built to revolutionize the way educators teach and transform the way learners learn. Get ready to discover the incredible world of possibilities Revel offers.
Immerse Students in Learning: Active participation is the key to learning, and Revel achieves this by integrating videos and interactives throughout the narrative, enabling students to analyze and apply key concepts actively while reading.
“The video quizzes are a really good way to see how they apply the information, how they take it to the next level, and not just regurgitate or repeat what they’ve learned.” – Shawn Davis, The Chicago School of Professional Psychology
Improve Student Performance: Revel's quizzes and educator dashboard help measure progress and adjust teaching strategies to support student success. The Revel Mobile app lets instructors monitor their students’ progress away from the classroom.
“I like the ability to see how much of my class is submitting their assignments and where there’s low activity.” Those are very helpful. I like being able to identify what is challenging them.” – Daniella Cope, Pennsylvania Highlands Community College
Enable Anywhere, Anytime Learning: With the Revel app, students can learn on the go, because students today need flexibility and accessibility.
“Being able to open their textbook on their smartphone or tablet, having earbuds and listening to the text, highlighting something to export later, those things help. Having the textbook at their fingers and being able to listen to something really reinforces what they have already read. It is a great benefit to students, and it provides reinforcement to what they are learning, so that’s the most successful part, I would say.” – Dr. Erica Wattley, The Chicago School of Professional Psychology
Deliver World-Class Content: Revel enlivens expert subject matter with interactive elements, promoting an immersive experience that helps students better understand and apply what they're learning.
“I always look for the Cadillac version of something because that will give me all the bells and whistles that I need to be able to use and be very proficient in the course. If I don’t have the instructor resources, then I am spending all my time just reading the book and tailoring the course to this particular text. I don’t have enough time, then, to actually do the engagement aspect that makes the course more beneficial to the students. Having those resources as a baseline and then elevating from there is why I keep coming back to Revel, over and over again.” – Dr Antoinette Maldonado-Devincci, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University
Take a look at our new Revel video below.
