Teaching and Learning blog

Other higher education instructors ask me what I use to keep my students engaged in courses that involve a lot of memorization and how do I build confidence and deepen their understanding in the material?

I teach online Medical Terminology as well as nursing courses for three different colleges. MyLab Medical Terminology by Pearson has been one of my go-to resources for 12 years because it helps me keep my online students invested in their learning.

Features that make learning dynamic and fun

Medical terminology, outside of being difficult, can be tedious at times. With all those root words, prefixes and suffixes to remember, students are essentially being asked to learn a new language in the span of a single course. A spelling or pronunciation error could be vital to a patient’s life.

To help my students overcome this challenge, the features of MyLab Medical Terminology are designed to promote active learning, which makes the process of mastery more enjoyable and effective.

A recent survey sponsored by Inside Higher Education and College Pulse found that over 75% of undergraduate students will have student loan debt upon graduation. Of those students nearly half of the respondents do not know what their monthly payments will be. In the same study, about 25% of the students reported having credit debt and about 15% reported having car loans.¹

Finite mathematics texts often include a chapter on the mathematics of finance, and for decades these books have covered topics such as amortization of consumer loans with an emphasis on home mortgages. Although mortgage loan examples are helpful because they often last thirty years and can involve large amounts of accrued interest, as the number of first-generation college students increase, a growing number of students do not come from families that paid a mortgage for their residence.

To make the mathematics of finance more relevant to students’ lived experiences, we emphasize examples that involve student loans, auto loans, and credit cards in Mathematics with Applications and Finite Mathematics.

Student loan examples

Even at a public university, the average amount of student loan debt in 2021 was $30,030 for a bachelor’s degree. At an interest rate of 2.75%, that leads to a monthly payment of $286.52. Over the course of 10 years, the total interest paid on the loan will be $4,352.40.

Due to the rise of interest rates since the pandemic, the interest rate for student loans will be 5.50% for the 2023-2024 year,. To demonstrate the impact this will have on monthly payments, an instructor could ask the class, “With a current interest rate of 5.50%, how much does the monthly payment increase on the same amount borrowed of $30,030 on a 10-year payment plan? How much total interest will accrue over the course of the payment plan?” The answer shows that the monthly payment increases by $39.38, which may not appear to students to be a significant increase per month, but the overall interest paid over the course of the loan will more than double, to $9,078.

Auto loan examples

The changes in the U.S. economy have also affected interest rates for auto loans. The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System reported that, in November 2016, the average rate for a 6-month new auto loan from commercial banks was 4.05%. In May 2023, the same group reported an average interest rate of 7.81%. How do these changes affect monthly payments and total interest payments?

To make this even more interesting, and perhaps more relevant to students’ lives, nerdwallet.com² reported in August 2023, average auto loan interest rates by credit score and whether the automobile purchased was new or used.

Human geography is the scientific study of where people and activities are found across Earth’s surface and the reasons why they are found there. A prominent feature on Earth’s surface is the presence of around 1.5 billion motor vehicles; around 85 million new motor vehicles are produced and sold annually worldwide. Around three-fourths of motor vehicles are produced and sold in only three regions of the world: Europe, North America, and China. The rest of the world accounts for around three-fourths of the global population but only around one-fourth of global vehicle production and sales.

Every college math instructor has been there. The students have been actively engaged in class. They’ve completed their homework (for the most part). The majority have even turned in the test review that you provided. Yay! Then you grade the tests. Questions were left blank, many scored shockingly low, and several students left sad notes in the margins. Some did well, but so many failed that the bell curve is upside-down! How is it they learned so little?!

Then, we dive into the ice cream to ease the pain (or maybe that’s just me).

Well, put the ice cream back in the freezer, my friends, because there is hope! A few tweaks to the way you design test exercises could potentially improve test scores and right that bell curve, not by lowering standards, but by more accurately assessing student knowledge by asking more focused test questions.

How many levels of cognition are you assessing?

One of the challenges that college math students face is that most math exercises require several levels of cognition and a variety of mastered objectives. Consider the exercise: “Solve 5𝑥(𝑥−2) = 3𝑥−2.”

This series of statistical examples is intended to inform students about the statistics (and how it relates to the psychology) casinos use on table games to make them a more informed consumer. This series is not intended to be a “how to beat the house” or any other sort of get rich quick scheme. If I had a way to beat the house, don’t you think I would be doing it and not giving up the secrets? Overall, it is good to think of casino games as forms of entertainment, and you are encouraged to treat them as such. If you have or know someone who has a gambling problem, please use resources, and reach out to a professional for help.

Often students do not have a concept for the Normal Distribution when it comes to the sampling chapter, and the Galton Board is used to give students the visual reference in the classroom for discrete random variables showing a normal distribution when enough observations are dropped through the board. Unless students are soon to be contestants on The Price Is Right and are faced with Plinko, or NBC’s game show The Wall, they are not likely to encounter the board in their life outside the class. A more accessible way for students to see the normal distribution and understand the importance of sample size is the Craps Table.

 The casino game of Craps is simplistic: the act of throwing two dice and summing up the showing faces is the experiment in the game of craps. While using the full casino game with payouts and their corresponding probabilities creates a valued learning activity, this activity focuses only on the act of rolling the dice. To emphasize the previous chapters (discrete random variables categorization and visualization)  the image below shows the number of ways the dice total can occur:

With the prevalence of artificial intelligence (AI) becoming more widespread since ChatGPT first launched in November 2022, professors and students alike have wondered how to use this newer technology effectively and ethically in the higher education landscape. With this in mind, Pearson conducted a webinar with professors, authors, and students from across the country to discuss some of the concerns, benefits, and best practices when it comes to utilizing generative AI. 

The moderator, Dr. Peter Foltz from the University of Colorado and NSF AI Institute for Student-AI Teaming was joined by Dr. Amos Olagunju, Professor of Practice at the University of Kansas, Dr. Terri Moore, Professor at Eastern Florida State College, Dr. Ramesh Sharda, Vice Dean for Research and the Watson Graduate School of Management, Watson/ConocoPhillips Chair and Regents Professor of Management Science and Information Systems in the Spears School of Business at Oklahoma State University, Kylie Guzman, student at Western Kentucky University, and Saige O’Rourke, student at the University of Tennessee.

Impact of AI

Generative AI, such as ChatGPT, has already significantly impacted the way professors and students approach higher education. Amos feels there have been many facets that have been transformed such as academic outcomes, ways to engage students in critical thinking, writing, analysis, and creation of course content. In the analytics and data science field, Ramesh sees a potential reduction in the time professors need to create content, as they can use AI to generate custom sets of data. He also believes that “ChatGPT can be used as a friend to reduce academic integrity issues.”

When it comes to application research, Ramesh has seen that with ChatGPT, better quality academic papers can be produced. It can help with literature reviews, summarizing research gaps, design experiments, and generating regression charts or histograms. One consideration he noted is that ChatGPT can also create fake references that look entirely legitimate. Other, broader, AI applications he noted include customer support and IT coding. He can see how there is potential for a lot more research on AI saying, “I think there are quite a few research opportunities in terms of testing the effectiveness, efficiency, and validation of the technologies used. So, at least in the short term, there is an opportunity to build a research portfolio where you have the testing of this technology.”

There are a variety of ways students can use ChatGPT to assist and enhance their learning. Kylie uses it for brainstorming. She will input the topic and then tailor the response to match her unique voice. She also uses it to help understand scholarly articles when they are complicated or unfamiliar. She will input parts of the article and ask it to rephrase, summarize, and/or explain it to her in a way that resonates with her. Saige also uses it for brainstorming but finds it to be beneficial when she is in a rush as the immediate generated responses save her time. As a professor, Peter also sees the benefits of using AI for brainstorming. He suggests using AI for students’ writing to help generate ideas but cautions that clear documentation of their process is necessary. “You tell students that they can use it for the first part but then they’ve got to write on their own all while submitting all of their processes that they went through.”

Instead of taking teaching opportunities away from professors, Ramesh sees that AI is creating more instances where the human touch, the human voice, the human reflection, is needed. “ChatGPT is creating a much larger role for professors because there is only so much that students can do with a computer. The professor needs to be there to both check the assessment and keep the human side of it... It falls more on the professor to figure out where the assessment lies and how to keep that connection to the students so that they’re both able to assess them at a more personal level but also keep them more motivated as they are working.”

AI considerations

Ramesh also discusses the “generative” aspect of ChatGPT allowing researchers to create synthetic data efficiently for use in other research. The same capability can also be used to create custom datasets for use by each student in class assignments so as to minimize the incentives for cheating.

There is uncertainty about how to best use AI without allowing it to become a crutch or another easily accessible way for students to cheat. There is also a lot of confusion by professors and students on how to effectively use AI which has impacted expectations, with Saige saying, “The roles of professors and students are changing and shifting. We all have different ways of using AI and maneuvering the classroom to avoid cheating and use it in a productive way... We want to embrace technology, not rely on it.” Kylie agrees, commenting, “I see AI as a resource, not a solution.”

Cheating is an all-too-common issue in higher education. With the advances in AI, some professors are concerned there will be even more opportunities for cheating, without the more straightforward ways of determining who is and isn’t cheating. This has prompted Terri to consider how she is designing her assessments in an effort to curb this potential issue. She no longer asks multiple choice questions or uses tests that she has used often in the past, as they are easy to find online. Now she asks students to explain concepts from the course and how they apply to their individual real-world experiences. “It requires more grading on my part but what I tell my students is, learning is not easy. If it is easy, you’re probably not learning. Assessing isn’t easy. Unless it is costing you something as a faculty member, you’re probably not assessing their real mastery. So, I am challenging myself to look at different ways of assessing and saying, perhaps the cheating is too available because the way we’re assessing is too easy to cheat. I also begin to think about the reasons behind the lack of integrity in our students with their academic honesty.”

Using AI to generate an entire assignment does not allow for development of critical thinking skills, creativity, or unique human expression. In order to negate this issue of using AI to do their work, Saige suggests, “Students should be encouraged to work with AI instead of having it do the work for them. This way they can continue to be creative with their minds, let that creativity flow, and use it for brainstorming instead of a crutch.” Terri agrees about the importance of creativity, not just for students completing assignments, but for professors creating assessments. She feels that modeling creativity encourages students to engage in cultivating their own creativity as well. “If I am relying on things that are on Quizlet, I’m certainly not doing my job. I’m not giving students a creative assessment that lets them show me their creativity in return.”

In addition to creativity, Kylie maintains that developing critical thinking skills is also a necessity in professional life. “I think it’s just as important to be teaching critical thinking because growing as a young professional, that’s what’s going to get me places. Even if I use AI as a tool, I need to make sure critical thinking is a foundation of it.” She feels it is also important for professors to foster passion in their students which also encourages the creativity and critical thinking aspects saying “Professors have to make sure that the student is actually passionate about what they’re learning because if there’s no passion, they are not going to want to learn, no want to be creative, no want to be critical, no want to look deeper into what is taught to them.” Amos sees AI as a tool to enhance students’ creativity and critical thinking, both of which prepare them for their careers. “AI is here to help promote human creativity. However, as we prepare our students for teamwork in the real world, they must realize the importance of divergent thinking. But of course we can use the artificial intelligence tools to boost students’ analytical and decision-making abilities and to heighten their creativity.”

Best practices

Institutions and individual professors need to establish academic honesty policies with clear expectations for students on how AI generated content is to be utilized and the consequences if they use it to cheat. This is also set out in pointed conversations with students about what cheating really is and that AI is only to be used as a tool. “We are going to have to be open and embrace this as a wonderful, wonderful tool for our classes.” Peter cautions professors against using various tools that claim to determine whether assignments were generated by AI as they have high false positive rates. Instead, he agrees that relying on a set of policies is the best practice.

As part of these academic policies, Amos and Terri believe students need to understand that any use of AI needs to be cited, just as any other reference would need to be. In the syllabus Amos clearly states the consequences of cheating and incorrectly citing or leaving out references. The first instance is a warning, the second includes a penalty. Terri is also very clear about the consequences of cheating in her syllabus. They will get a zero on their assignment, but she allows them another attempt at the assignment, with students understanding they will not be able to achieve full credit due to the cheating. “I think you have to allow students to make errors and use it as a learning moment to teach students about academic honesty.”

Setting clear expectations for students is something Saige also feels is of the utmost importance. It is critical, especially in these early days of incorporating AI into higher education, to be upfront about how students are supposed to use AI and what professors are willing to allow. “Having a conversation about it and not ignoring it anymore is a really big thing. Just be clear on guidelines and expectations because some professors may encourage using AI to its fullest while some encourage it only to tailor it to yourself. We don’t know where to go if there’s no guidance.”

In an effort to embrace AI generated content, Terri shared an example of her colleague who uses ChatGPT for an assignment. The colleague requires students to create an AI generated essay which they bring to class, and they discuss how they can make it more personal, more human. This leads to discussion about what it means to be human, which Terri believes will become a more prevalent topic of conversation the more AI is utilized. “I think we’re on the cusp of an amazing, amazing adventure in education.”

Keeping the human connection with their professors and peers motivates students to engage deeper with a course, according to Saige and Kylie. Saige appreciates it when her professors are personable and approachable. She feels this makes the classroom dynamic and relationship with her professor unique. “Small, personal, interactions with my professor make me want to pay attention in class versus if I am treated as just another ant in the ant farm of their classroom because if I am, I am not going to want to pay attention just as much as they don’t want to teach in the large lecture hall. So, I think treating your students as people is important. We are all people either trying to get a job done or do our job.” Collaboration with her peers is incredibly motivating and fosters creativity for Kylie, especially collaboration with those that have the same major, minor, or focus as her as this presumably means they have similar interests and passion for the field. “We all share our experiences and share different ways we are either loving what we’re learning or struggling with what we are learning... When professors can encourage us to work with one another, I think that’s the best way to cultivate creativity.”

Conclusion

Artificial intelligence has the ability to change the higher education landscape in a positive way. As long as there are academic honesty policies and expectations in place, both professors and students can thrive with its use. Used in a thoughtful way, panelists believe it can support students’ creativity and critical thinking, as well as help professors create materials and assist with assignments. AI can be a valuable supplement in the classroom, but it cannot replace the human connection or voice. 

At Pearson we take pride in enriching and transforming our courseware to be purpose-built for learning. At the heart of our innovation are our partnerships: with trusted authors and with students. We’re passionate about student success, and to ensure their success we listen to and incorporate the student voice. To shed light on how we do this, Ben Piercy, a Product Marketer at Pearson, shares insights on the transformative impact of engaging students.

Q: Why does Pearson prioritize hosting student focus groups?

A: Having a pipeline and access to students helps give us a pulse on what's going on in the campus life to both instructors and students. We are able to understand, empathize, and forecast product solutions to help instructors teach and students to better learn and prepare for careers after college. 

What's even cooler is that when students see that their opinions matter, they become more invested. It's not just a transaction anymore; it's a partnership. They become advocates, telling their friends about how their feedback led to real changes. That's like marketing gold right there, but more importantly, it's a testament to the power of involving our users in the process.

Q: How does hearing the student voice contribute to the overall improvement of our products?

A: Again at the heart of it all, they're the ones who are using our tools as well as competitors and technology and apps outside of higher ed. Day in and day out, they navigate the ins and outs, and really experiencing firsthand what works and what could use a little tweak, how can we be different from competitors or what cool new app feature we need to think about building into our products-  That's where the student voice comes in, and let me tell you, it's like gold for us. They are not just our users or customers – we think of students as co-creators. 

Q: What specific aspects of student feedback are you looking to gather through the focus groups?

A: Whether it's through focus groups, surveys, or product testing, we're getting an inside look into their world. We get to hear about their "Aha!" moments, the times when they felt the product really hit the mark. But we also get to hear about the times when things didn't quite click, the frustrations they faced, or the features they wished were there to make their education and learning experience better. 

Q: Can you share examples of how insights from focus groups have influence product development or marketing strategies?

A: Sometimes, they come up with ideas we hadn't even thought of. It's like a brainstorming session where the students are the experts – they know exactly what they need to succeed in their academic journey. It's like having a secret weapon in our quest to create amazing products.

When we were in the discovery phase of developing our Freehand Grader feature, we needed to understand student benefit of being able to complete handwritten homework and upload back to the platform. Through journey mapping exercise with a variety of students we uncovered multiple pain points in which we were able to solution for our MVP launch. 

Every year there are new features and enhancements to our platform. We try to map out the best ways to communicate to students the new learning content and study tools they have access to. Last year we were able to journey map with a focus group to determine that fall back to school was a very chaotic time in students' lives. They are balancing getting back on campus, work schedules, social activities, sports clubs, friends and of course school. We found that a more targeted message a month after their start date was the perfect time to include messaging to help them utilize new features for upcoming tests. 

Q: How does incorporating student feedback through these focus groups contribute to creating a more student-centered and inclusive learning environment?

A: Our goal is to make sure no student feels left out, unheard, or unseen. By inviting diverse voices into these focus groups, we're giving students from various backgrounds, abilities, and experiences a platform to share their perspectives. This is how we ensure that our products are not only effective but also welcoming and respectful of everyone's individuality.

Think about it – students bring their own stories, challenges, and strengths to the table. By listening to their stories, we can identify areas where our products might unintentionally create barriers or exclude certain groups. This awareness empowers us to make informed decisions that promote inclusivity and accessibility, creating a learning environment where every student feels valued and empowered.

Moreover, when students see that we genuinely care about their input, it fosters a sense of belonging. They become active participants in shaping their own educational experience, which boosts their engagement and motivation. It's like giving them a front-row seat in the classroom of product development.

By incorporating student feedback, we're teaching a valuable lesson – that their voices matter, not just in the realm of education but in the wider world too. It's a real-world application of the power of communication, collaboration, and critical thinking. These are skills that go beyond the classroom and empower them to be active, confident participants in society.

Q: Can you elaborate on how involving students in the decision making process helps address their unique needs and challenges within higher education?

A: Students higher education journey isn't a one-size-fits-all journey. Each student has their own story, from juggling work and studies to navigating virtual learning environments or managing financial constraints. By involving them in decisions, we're essentially customizing our offerings to suit their unique circumstances.

Think about a puzzle – each piece is essential to complete the picture. Similarly, each student's perspective is crucial for us to paint a comprehensive picture of their needs. When they share their challenges, we gain a clearer understanding of where the roadblocks are. Maybe it's a technology hiccup that's causing frustration or a lack of resources that's hindering their progress. Armed with this knowledge, we can develop solutions that directly address these pain points, making their educational journey smoother.

In essence, involving students in decision-making is a two-way street. It's about them guiding us toward solutions that address their real-world challenges, and it's about us empowering them to take an active role in shaping the educational experience they deserve. It's a partnership that not only enhances their learning but also enriches the higher education landscape as a whole. Just like a skilled navigator, their insights lead us to uncharted territories of understanding, empathy, and meaningful change.

Q: How do you measure the effectiveness of the insights gained from student focus groups in terms of product success?

A: We dive into the numbers, the quantitative metrics. Are more students using the variety of tools and features we tweaked based on their suggestions? Are they spending more time on certain places within the platform? These are like little indicators that tell us we're on the right track, that our changes are resonating with them.

But it's not just about crunching numbers. We're all about the human touch, too. We ask for direct qualitative feedback through user satisfaction surveys, focus groups, and student testimonials. It's like asking, "Hey, how are we doing?" And when we see a spike in positive responses or heartfelt testimonials mentioning how a specific improvement made their lives easier, that's a thumbs-up that we're hitting the mark.

Think of it as a ripple effect – those insights from students can lead to innovative features. And when users start adopting these features and telling their friends about them, it's like watching the ripples spread in a pond. That's the kind of impact we're after.

You know, we also look at the bigger picture. Did the changes we made align with our product goals? Did they give us an edge in the competitive landscape? These are like checkpoints that help us see if the insights are steering us in the right direction.

In a nutshell, we're like detectives, piecing together clues from different sources – numbers, feedback, alignment with objectives – to see if the insights gathered from student focus groups are translating into a product that students love and find incredibly valuable. It's a journey that's both exciting and rewarding, and the students' voices are our compass guiding us to success.

Q: What steps does Pearson take to ensure that the feedback collected from focus groups is translated into actionable changes?

A: The product marketing team is the intersection of the entire business. We sit between sales, product management, marketing, customer success, and customer support. We are able to effectively communicate key market insights into product development roadmaps and create the positioning messaging that we utilize in strategic marketing campaigns. 

In the ever-evolving landscape of higher education, the constant is the student voice. We recognize each shift in this space and turn to the student to develop platforms and tools that are adapted to them, purpose-built for their success.

More than 3.5 million nurses around the country are currently providing a variety of essential healthcare services. In doing so, they are spending more hours with patients than any other profession in the industry, according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), which is why it’s essential for nurses to have a solid foundation of knowledge in the field and to develop a strong sense of confidence that can sustain them throughout their careers.

Nursing is the linchpin of the American healthcare system, but experts predict that the system could break. The Baby Boomer generation is aging and requiring more care; nursing programs are experiencing faculty shortages that restrict the number of students they can admit each year; and nurses are being pulled in so many different directions that they are burning out and leaving the profession at historic rates, according to a report from the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN).

How can nurse educators provide a foundational learning experience that helps nurses thrive?

In addition to incorporating concept-based learning into the curriculum to prepare nursing students for challenging clinical environments, another important way to facilitate critical growth in the nursing profession is to support the role that student-teacher relationships play in promoting positive learning outcomes and strong retention rates.

Nurse educators play a vital role

Regardless of the level of difficulty or the subject matter being covered, the truly effective teachers are the ones who can connect with their students in meaningful ways. The student-teacher relationship is especially influential in nursing education programs, where the information is complex and mistakes can cost lives.

Nurse educator Tammy Vant Hul, Riverside City College, PhD, MSN, RN, ACNP, CNE, says that building a sense of trust between instructor and student is crucial. “I think helping students work through the idea that the only thing that they can\, put their money on is that their patients are going to change from the time they walk in there in the morning. The environment that they work in will change almost weekly.”

The student-teacher connection in nursing education is described as “a place of possibility” by Mary Gillespie, a professor of critical care nursing at the British Columbia Institute of Technology. “The qualities inherent in the essence of connection — knowing, trust, respect, and mutuality — create a transformative space in which students are affirmed, gain insight into their potential, and grow toward fulfilling personal and professional capacities,” she writes in the Journal of Advanced Nursing.

Other research has concluded that nurse educators who provide a supportive teaching context can dramatically alter a nursing student’s approach to learning, inspiring them to engage more deeply with the material and become active, enthusiastic learners. A positive learning environment has also been shown to bolster resilience in nursing students, a key factor in achieving academic success and professional longevity in the field.

Vant Hul and her colleagues, for example, don’t conduct “high stakes testing” because doing so can damage a student’s sense of psychological safety and interfere with the learning process. When one of Vant Hul’s students makes a mistake during a simulation exercise, she helps them learn from it by asking questions that encourage them to reflect on their performance, such as: What just happened? How could you have handled this situation better? and What will you do differently next time?

Cultivating a positive relationship while maintaining professional boundaries and holding students accountable for their learning is not a straightforward task. Gillespie emphasizes that nurse educators need to be trained in how to help students grow their own relational competencies, as well as how to keep the “educator-in-relationship” role in mind when assessing students.

The importance of promoting dignity

In healthcare, the concept of dignity — a human being’s intrinsic worth and fundamental right to be treated with respect — is often discussed in relation to the patient who is being cared for, not the nurse who is caring for that patient. However, when it comes to training and retaining nurses, it is the dignity of these essential healthcare providers that needs to be of paramount importance to educators.

“It is a goal in nursing education to promote students' dignity and facilitate this core value,” write Tone Stikholmen, Dagfinn Nåden, and Herdis Alvsvåg in a study published in Nursing Ethics. The study found a meaningful link between the student-teacher relationship and a nursing students’ experience with dignity. When an educator was affirming, empathetic, and accepting, students were more likely to have confidence in their abilities and to be more present in patient situations.

In the student interviews conducted by Stikholmen and his colleagues, the following recommendations for nurse educators emerged:

At Pearson, we’re always listening to faculty and students and, recently, we kept hearing one refrain over and over — classroom engagement was at an all-time low. Fortunately, we knew just what to do. In fact, we had a solution ready.

For years, Pearson’s Learning Catalytics interactive student response tool has been helping instructors and students connect in meaningful ways. As soon as we knew classroom engagement was lagging, we knew we needed to host a Learning Catalytics Summit to help more instructors learn how to use — and make the most of — this incredible tool.

On August 1, we hosted the first-ever Learning Catalytics Summit to great acclaim. Attendees participated in four different webinar sessions hosted by Learning Catalytics experts. Each session focused on a specific advantage of Learning Catalytics, but they all spoke to the ways the student response tool can help instructors see learning as it happens.

The overall message: Learning Catalytics is a powerful student response and assessment tool. As session-leader Aaron Warnock said, “Learning Catalytics — and I cannot exaggerate — revolutionized my classroom.” Brad Mehrtens concurred in his session, adding, “Learning Catalytics makes a huge difference in student engagement at any scale.”

How Does Learning Catalytics Work?

Designed to work on laptops and all common smart devices, Learning Catalytics gives instructors a way to connect directly to students and know when everyone is following a lesson and when some are falling behind. This real-time assessment allows instructors to adjust their teaching in-the-moment and address student confusion before it becomes a problem.

Learning Catalytics empowers instructors to:

• Engage students with 18 question types that include graphing, drawing, multiple choice selections, open-ended dialogues, and more
• Identify misconceptions and monitor responses to find out where students are struggling
• Facilitate peer-to-peer learning with automatic grouping of students so that every group has a member who understands the material

These features are available whether the class is in-person or online, making Learning Catalytics useful in every teaching environment. As Brad Mehrtens said about his experience using Learning Catalytics with even difficult-to-connect-with classrooms, “[The students] were there, they were engaged. [Learning Catalytics] works… It’s the only thing that works.”

What Did the Learning Catalytics Summit Cover?

The summit’s four unique sessions provided a wealth of information on how Learning Catalytics works and how instructors can use it in all kinds of classroom settings and situations. An hour-long each, the sessions included:

“Unleashing the Power of Learning Catalytics in a Hybrid Environment” with Aaron Warnock

Aaron Warnock’s session focused primarily on the way Learning Catalytics’ question-and-answer function helps instructors connect with students and students learn better in hybrid environments. Aaron showed audiences how students can answer questions by drawing graphs, clicking on different regions of an image, highlighting relevant information, evaluating complex problems, or simply filling in a multiple choice answer.

Aaron noted that the different question types give instructors a lot of flexibility in the ways they monitor student learning. Plus, the questions make it easier to get students to answer without them feeling uncomfortable, because everyone participates and no one feels put on the spot.

“When I saw Learning Catalytics for the first time, and the eighteen different question types that are available, I was instantly sold,” Aaron said. “It creates a fantastic, engaging learning environment for students.”

“Transforming Large-Classroom Activities with Learning Catalytics” with Brad Mehrtens

Being a professor who routinely teaches classes as large as 600 students, Brad Mehrtens understands the challenges of connecting with students. In his session, he spoke to how Learning Catalytics helps him keep students engaged in even the largest lecture halls.

After regularly watching class attendance dwindle — particularly after the COVID-19 pandemic — he started using Learning Catalytics. He immediately had a much better sense of how well his students were learning and, to his delight, attendance evened out.

“I was as deflated by the pandemic as anyone was, and Learning Catalytics has made me excited about teaching again,” Brad says. “And I don’t say that lightly. It has completely recharged my battery and made it fun to be back in the classroom”

“Connecting with Learning Catalytics for Success Throughout Your Course” with Pamela Sandstrom

A number of years ago, Pamela Sandstrom was using other types of student response tools — but that all changed. “Once I switched [to Learning Catalytics], I’ve never even thought about using any other instant response system because of how much [Learning Catalytics] can do,” she said in her summit session.

Centered on the ways Learning Catalytics can positively impact a course at multiple moments and in numerous ways, Pamela’s talk discussed how useful the real-time data on student learning is to her instruction.

“Learning Catalytics provides formative assessment,” she said. “But to me that means that I don’t have to wait till the test, or even till the end of the lecture — [I can see] how they’re doing in the class real time”

“The Tips and Tricks You Need to Know About Learning Catalytics” with Terry Austin

During his session, Terry Austin shared his screen to demonstrate exactly how Learning Catalytics works and all the ways he can customize it for the needs of a specific class. As an instructor who has been using Learning Catalytics for a decade, he had a lot of great tips and tricks, ranging from linking Learning Catalytics to a Pearson Mastering class to using it to improve seat maps to incorporating it into classroom presentations.

“Learning Catalytics is clever,” Terry said, noting how much the tool is capable of doing. As attendees to his session and the summit as a whole learned, he was right. Learning Catalytics can empower instructors to assess student learning in-the-moment, improve student engagement, and make classroom time much more successful.

As Terry noted, there’s a good reason he’s been using Learning Catalytics for a decade.