Teaching and Learning blog

At the University of Houston, teaching fellow Jelisa Boykin is using Revel^® to create a meaningful and interactive learning experience for her asynchronous courses. Revel’s features, including its unique and interactive assignments and its intuitive interface, facilitate the structuring of a successful class and make it Boykin’s go-to platform. 

MyVirtualLife 

Arguably the most compelling feature of Revel for Boykin is MyVirtualLife, which provides students with an immersive simulation of actual life experiences. For example, MyVirtualChild is a child-raising simulation that provides students with invaluable insight into how different parenting choices can impact a child’s development. This helps students conceptualize how the theories they learn in the classroom apply to real-life situations.  

“MyVirtualChild and MyVirtualLife are really connected to a real-life application that I feel is much better than assigning papers,” says Boykin. “You really have to live this out and see the effects and consequences of what happens to your child as they experience things you choose.”   

The content provided in MyVirtualLife is not only accurate and relevant, it is taught in a manner that is more immersive and impactful than traditional means of instruction. This creates an unparalleled learning experience, wherein the student is able to absorb the material through application, rather than just memorization. 

Performance Dashboard 

Boykin also mentions Revel’s Performance Dashboard as one of the best features for teaching. The dashboard enables Boykin to easily assess individual students’ performances. Using this feature, Boykin is able to zero-in on struggling students and provide personalized support to each one. 

“It lets me cover my bases that, as an instructor, I’ve done my due diligence of reaching out,” she says. “I just never want a student to fail when I see them struggling.”   

The Revel Dashboard also tracks the engagement levels of each class. Boykin finds this particularly useful when evaluating the success of her asynchronous courses, which can often feel less engaging due to their virtual nature. When using Revel, Boykin finds that she is able to surpass these limitations and maintain an interactive learning environment. 

“That’s a big piece of why I use Revel – to give students that interactive component compared to them just getting another textbook and having them read chapters and writing papers about it,” she says.   

Intuitive Interface 

Additionally, Boykin praises Revel for its easy-to-navigate interface. After becoming pregnant and giving birth to twins, Boykin describes being able to manage both her newborns and her students because she uses Revel. 

“With its ease and flexibility, you can literally do it while handling newborns! I feel like it’s pretty intuitive. It’s not cumbersome to navigate. Even if I make mistakes, they’re easy to fix.”  

Overall, Boykin views Revel as an invaluable asset as she journeys toward becoming a professor. It is a platform that helps her ensure her students’ success by offering an engaging and immersive learning experience and allowing her to keep track of each student’s individual performance. Revel is not only building a path towards her students’ success, but also helping to pave the way for Boykin’s success as a professor.

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.

5 Ways Revel Assignments Make Instructors’ Lives 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.

Revel promotes active learning

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.

Revel adapts to students’ needs

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.”

Revel makes course administration easier

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 is the clear choice for students and instructors

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.

Think about your first teaching experience in higher education.

What was it like? Did you feel prepared to address your students’ learning needs?

“In higher education, we aren’t necessarily taught how to be teachers,” says Anakira Gabriela, a tenured instructor and Pearson representative. “Most of us were thrown out there with, ‘Okay, you know your discipline. Now go teach that.’”

But managing learning objectives, assessment design, lesson planning, and individual student intervention is difficult for experienced instructors, let alone new ones.

That’s where the right courseware can help. In a recent webinar, Anakira explains how Revel gives instructors the content and information they need to help their students thrive. She describes how she uses Revel to help students understand who they are as learners and to provide them with more targeted feedback and assistance.

Content that facilitates learning

No two brains learn alike.

A student’s genetics, environment, and current emotional state all play a role in how they process information, meaning that instructors must consider the impact of neurodiversity when designing and delivering their courses.

As Anakira points out, “If a student doesn't feel safe in their environment, if they don't feel like their needs are being listened to or accommodated, then they tend to start to shut down to the learning process itself.”

That’s why she begins her courses by helping students understand how they learn best, and showing them how the content in Revel can support their learning style.

She uses the example of reading a book on how to work out versus actually going for a workout to demonstrate the difference between passive learning (e.g. just reading a textbook) and active learning (e.g. interacting with multimedia content within courseware).

“Stagnant reading from print is one of the least effective ways to learn,” says Anakira. “Many students need the auditory stimulation of embedded videos or the audio version. And they need that kinesthetic experience of interacting with the content.”

Throughout the webinar, Anakira also discusses how instructors can use Revel to facilitate spaced practice, combat the fluency illusion, and more.

Actionable information and feedback

Giving regular formative assessments and providing meaningful feedback is one of the most effective methods for helping students understand whether they are on track. But building and grading these types of assessments takes a tremendous amount of time that many instructors don’t have.

Anakira has been able to save a lot of time by using Revel to create, assign, and grade formative assessments.

“One of the things Revel does is it allows you to be the guide on the side instead of the sage on the stage,” says Anakira. “You are there to construct a well-designed course where you are coaching your students through the learning process.”

That coaching is made even more effective because instructors who use Revel have access to in-depth analytics about their students’ progress and performance, allowing them to intervene in a timely and personalized manner.

In the webinar, Anakira offers specific tips for using the feedback and analytics in Revel to enhance students’ learning experiences.

Designed for success

Higher education instructors have an unparalleled depth of knowledge about their fields. The correct courseware can give them the time and energy to design courses that effectively instill that knowledge and a passion for lifelong learning in their students.

“How do teachers want to teach? How do students want to learn?” says Anakira, “That’s how Revel was designed from the get-go.”

Check out Anakira’s on-demand webinar for more in-depth information about transforming teaching and learning with Revel.

Inclusive Access (IA) provides students with a more cost-efficient, success-driven option for obtaining their digital courseware. This program incorporates the cost of their materials directly into their tuition, eliminating the rush to find the funds and correct material for the course at the start of a semester. In addition, it ensures students have their materials from the first day of class, setting them up for success right from the start. Pearson spoke with several people from a variety of roles to get their perspective on IA and how it benefits them, their institutions, faculty, and students.

Michael Shiftlet is the Digital Publishing Coordinator on the Affordability and Access team at The Ohio State University (OSU). In his role he coordinates and facilitates communication between the publishers, faculty, and their registrar for a smooth IA implementation. Beginning in 2017, OSU started a small-scale pilot, delivering 50 Pearson titles to students in one course. They initially worked with instructors whom they knew were enthusiastic about supporting their students, would be open to the program, and had worked on other affordability initiatives prior. After the first semester's success, enrollment in the program slowly grew each semester, until they rolled out the program in Fall 2020.

Sarah Cameron, Textbook Manager at West Chester University (WCU) campus bookstore, oversees the entire textbook department, from print to digital to IA. In 2018, WCU began their pilot of the program, hoping to see benefits for their students, both in cost savings and success with first-day access. Since then, they have slowly been adding more classes, with approximately 75% of the courses now participating in IA.

Pearson also spoke with two instructors in the math department and a bookstore manager from a community college in the Western United States. One of the faculty recognized the value of IA many years ago and has been trying to adopt it at their institution. “Students didn’t have to work so hard to get access codes or to transfer temporary access to permanent access, there was cost savings, and all of that combined with how easily it integrated into Canvas were why I decided to move forward trying to get the permissions we needed.” With eventual approval, and in partnership with the bookstore manager, they decided to start small, piloting IA with two teachers in Fall 2023. They hoped that IA would curb the issue of students entering a course without their course materials, thus unprepared, resulting in falling way behind and potentially not being able to catch up with one instructor saying, “For me it was mostly about pedagogy and actual effectiveness of the classroom with students.” The other primary driver was the hope that it would save their students a significant amount of money.

The program ran as expected, with a few initial hiccups smoothed out along the way, with the intended benefits noted this first semester. Therefore, they are expanding, adding a few more instructors in Spring 2024. “Luckily, the two teachers who were doing the pilot were not only fantastic but one of them, she has been fighting for Inclusive access for a long time. She’s the reason why we have a pilot because I have always said, you need to find a champion in the faculty.”

Cost Savings for Students

Since adopting IA in 2017, OSU is averaging around $7 million dollars per year in savings, with a cumulative total of around $26 million dollars in savings for their students, and an opt-out rate of approximately 0.5%. This cost effectiveness and convenience of course materials being part of the tuition has been appreciated by students, and those without access immediately noticed they were missing out, according to Michael. “Students were actually upset that their class wasn’t using IA. I think that was really the turning point for us and seeing that students were realizing the value of the program and what we were doing as well.”

According to Sarah, WCU has saved their students approximately $4.1 million dollars since adopting IA in 2018. Sarah has noticed how the cost savings of IA is mutually beneficial as it saves students money, but it also brings business into the bookstore, creating profits for the bookstore, and less headache for the students. “This is really helping them come through us and still get that better price. I think it is good for both of us at the same time. I think it simplifies the process for all of us as well.”

During the small initial pilot at the community college, students saved an average of $35 per textbook, and with 95 enrollments, that’s an overall savings of approximately $3,325. On top of these savings, students have also appreciated how simple the process was, “The fee they pay is definitely cheaper than the bookstore price and my students really, really, really like how simple it was with not having to go to purchase an access code separately.”

Day One Access

According to Sarah, faculty at WCU have appreciated the ease of day one access with IA for students, which has led to the vast majority opting to adopt the program for their courses. “With 75% of courses using it, you can tell they love it. They think it’s great that students are getting what they need on the first day of classes. There’s no stress with course materials when it comes to Inclusive Access.”

One of the math instructors found the day one access to course materials curbed students’ excuse of not having the materials to do their homework. It has also led to students getting started off and running, fully prepared right from the start, ensuring no one falls behind as they wait for their finances or materials to show up. “Well, I thought it was great that on day one I could expect them to do their homework rather than waiting a couple days while they got their money together and went to the bookstore and bought their access code, and so on and so forth. From day one, I expect them to do their homework and there’s no reason they can’t.”

Convenience

The comfort of knowing what their tuition fee will be, including the cost of their materials, is a huge relief for students, according to Sarah. It gives them time to plan ahead and prepare instead of scrambling at the start of the semester, which could potentially cause them to fall behind. “They know what they need to pay ahead of time. If they need to save up for it, they can see it a couple months ahead of it. It gives them time to prepare rather than trying to run around and find the best price at a bunch of places. They don’t have to worry about finding their materials. They know they are going to have what they need that first day of class.”

The bookstore manager sees the all-around convenience and benefits for all involved saying, “Honestly, I think for students it’s just convenient, cheaper, and easier. For us, it’s nice to have those guaranteed sales. It’s also nice for the school.”

Building Partnerships

Being part of IA has also increased communication between the bookstore, faculty and students, making it more of a partnership for Sarah. “This has created a lot of relationships with us, the faculty, and the students. We even have a good group of students that will tell us their true opinion of what they think. If they have taken the class, if they need that book. If they think Inclusive Access is best, which most often it is.”

The bookstore manager noted that in addition to the guaranteed sales through the bookstore, a couple benefits are even more fulfilling; the idea that they are helping students and building relationships with faculty. “The overall sense of being able to deliver products to the students for the faculty, which really helps relationship-wise. We make sure the students have what they need from us, when they need it, and make sure they are fully prepared. We are the school’s partner in doing that. We take that pretty seriously. So, when we can provide them with something that makes that whole process easier for them as they are trying to navigate college, which can be very daunting at times, is really nice.”

For Michael, working with Pearson to implement IA has been invaluable. The partnership they have developed right from the beginning has ensured smooth implementation and prompt resolutions. “The team has been good about getting the faculty what they need before the semester, that gap between ordering and the semester starting. I’ve had great experiences with everyone there. The primary reps and those in supporting roles have all been awesome. I’ve really enjoyed working with everyone at Pearson. From day one, the staffing has always been excellent. When I have been in touch with Pearson, resolution is always quick and smooth. I have a great working relationship with the team there.”

Students don’t know how to study. 

As a former instructor of undergraduate students, I would hear students say they are too busy to study, and when they do study, they aren’t sure what to focus on. Research shows students spend their study time rereading their notes or textbook, highlighting too much, and don’t know what they need to prioritize1. These poor study habits create frustration as students cram for exams but still get low grades. I was left wondering; how can I help make learning more engaging and robust for my students? 

Active learning is an effective and efficient method to remember more. 

Learning science shows that students need more effective strategies to optimize their limited time and keep them engaged during learning2. Active learning practices can make learning dynamic for the student and can promote efficiency in the study session. The term “active learning” comes from the ICAP framework3. In this framework, the level of engagement is categorized based on the level of interaction the student has with the learning material.  

When students are rereading text or listening to lectures without taking notes, they are engaging in passive learning behaviors. Passive learning has the worst outcomes for learning4. Active learning habits – such as outlining key concepts, comparing ideas, generating hypotheses, or reflecting on questions – allow learners to deepen their understanding in a shorter amount of time. Active learning does not mean learners are physically active; rather, learners are actively creating new ideas and connecting to the material in a way that benefits their learning. 

Frequent, shorter study sessions work best. 

Students that regularly engage in active learning while studying outperform those who cram right before the exam5. While last-minute cramming is common, research shows that information is quickly lost soon after a long study session. To avoid the decay in memory, spacing 20–30-minute study sessions across multiple days or weeks can lead to greater memory retention. Essentially, frequent brief exposures to the material can lead to better memory performance on the test, even when the exposures are for shorter durations of time.  

Instructors can help students set up a schedule to study and break up homework into smaller chunks. 

Students need support in active learning. 

Students need guidance to stop passively learning and use more active practices. Instructors can teach students the benefits of active learning and integrate opportunities for it in the classroom. Here are a few ways you as an instructor can encourage your students to be active learners. 

Walk students through features that enable active learning. 
Take some class time to show students how to use all the available digital learning tools, such as highlighting, flashcards, and quizzing. These eText features are easy to use and have been built to promote active learning. 

Create opportunities for reflective thinking. 
Active learning practices can be embedded into the course's structure by assigning opportunities to reflect. Activities that prompt active thinking can happen both in and out of the classroom. Discussion boards asking students to challenge a topic, assigning students to instruct others on a topic, or creating a visualization that structures a topic are all examples of ways to prompt active learning. 

Demonstrate how to take notes and study. 
Leading by example can be the best way to change behavior. By providing an outline or talking about what to focus on while studying, instructors can curb students from wasting time rereading. Students should have a clear understanding of what is most relevant to prepare them for an exam. 

Encourage frequent testing. 
Practice makes perfect. Therefore, regular low-stakes test sessions can help students gain exposure to the material and testing experience before taking a high-stakes exam. Regular testing can also guide students to know exactly what they are struggling with. Offer students frequent opportunities to quiz themselves on the material and provide clear feedback to help them know what to study next. 

Promote collaboration. 
Research shows that students learn best in a community, and learning from peers can save time for the instructor. AI tutors can also answer questions and prompt students to engage in active learning practices. 

Signs that your students are studying effectively 

Ensuring students are using the best study habits can be tricky. You can ensure your students are being productive outside of the classroom by looking for a few signs. According to the ICAP framework, students that are actively learning can: 

• ask insightful questions 
• discuss, challenge, and debate 
• instruct others 
• draw connections between concepts 

Integrating active learning in your course 

When I was looking for ways to get my students engaged and promote better study habits, I found that educational tools like digital flashcards and collaborative notetaking prompted more active thinking. Pearson offers a dynamic learning experience built to help students engage in active learning. Together, we can help students leverage the benefits of digital tools for learning. 

Jerilin Morris, Blackboard Administrator at The Christ College of Nursing and Health Sciences (TCC), and Paula Lee, LMS System Administrator at Lee College, both work with their bookstore and Pearson to integrate courseware into their institution’s Learning Management System (LMS), currently Blackboard. Jerilin has been the Blackboard Administrator at TCC for 10 years, while Paula has been the System Administrator at Lee College her entire 16 years there. Both of their responsibilities include ensuring the integration between the courseware and their LMS in the instructors’ courses are working appropriately. They attend to any issues and answer any questions that may arise from both instructors and students based on the integration process.  

Integration with Pearson 

LMS administrators have experience with a variety of publisher’s integration capabilities. Oftentimes the beginning of the semester can pose an issue when it comes to integration as students have to access their course materials through their LMS, which can be confusing for some students. With Pearson, Jerilin sees how much smoother it is during those first weeks of the semester saying, “The LMS integration with Pearson is basically seamless. For instance, students were having issues with a previous math product and every semester I just dreaded the first week because students would need so much help. I haven’t had any of those issues since we switched to Pearson.”  

In addition, Jerilin sees the value of LMS integration for students’ useability as it is less cumbersome and creates an intuitive way to access course materials. “It’s seamless for students. There are just too many clicks on different products. Without even realizing it, they’ve crossed a bridge between two different software products. Things really got easier for students when they got that single sign on and then all their material is just right there.”  

Access Pearson’s LMS integration allows for grade synching and assignment linking, direct from courseware into the LMS system. Paula feels this ease of use and set up is helpful for instructors. “The flow of the LMS integration with Pearson is good. It is simple to set up. The flow of grades syncing back up and setting up the links is straight forward, which is nice.” Jerilin agrees this process is beneficial saying, “The Pearson content is so specific that it’s a perfect fit for our courses. The integration is a much smoother process with Pearson and the grades synch automatically.” 

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.

Keeping Students Engaged

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.

Diversity in Assignment Options

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.

Diminishing the Grading Burden

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."

Support for Educators

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?

Learn more about Revel.