How Revel Sociology contributes to student success

In Summer 2018, Pearson worked with Associate Professor Catherine Medrano at the College of the Sequoias to investigate whether the use of Revel for Essentials of Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach by Henslin supported student success.

In fall 2018, Pearson worked with Lecturer Jeffrey Koplik at Bryant University in Smithfield, RI to investigate whether the use of Revel for Financial Markets and Institutions by Mishkin and Eakins helped students succeed.

Researchers found that:

• Average homework and chapter test scores increased
• Students believed Revel helped them learn and retain the material better than a traditional textbook

Click here to read the full case study or continue reading to learn more.

Why did Jeffrey Koplik adopt Revel?

Prior to implementing Revel™, Koplik found that students were frequently attending class without having read the assigned material and were unprepared for discussions. While finance classes are generally quantitative in nature, reading the chapter material remains an important part of the overall learning experience. In Fall 2018, Koplik elected to assign Revel readings and quizzes in hopes of increasing student preparedness and engagement.

How was Revel used in his course?

Revel assignments are due on or before the day of lecture, so students come to class prepared to learn. On the student survey, 95% of respondents agreed that completing Revel assignments prior to lecture helped them prepare for the new material being introduced in class. Revel assignments are worth a combined 20% of the final course grade.

Did Revel improve student success over the semester?

• Average exam scores were nine percentage points higher for students earning Revel scores above average
• Final course scores were 13 percentage points higher for students earning Revel scores above average
• 69% of students scoring above average on Revel assignments earned an A or B as their average exam grade, while 45% of students scoring below average on Revel assignments earned an A or B.
• 28% of students scoring below average on Revel assignments earned a D or F as their average exam grade, while just 4% of students scoring above average on Revel assignments earned a D, and none of these students earned a failing exam grade.

Did the students like using Revel?

Responses from the Fall 2018 end-of-semester survey of Koplik’s students indicate that the majority of responding students recognize the value of Revel.

• 82% of respondents agreed that the “read a little, do a little” interactive approach of Revel helped them learn and retain the material better than they would have with a traditional textbook
• 64% of respondents said they prefer the interactivity of Revel to a traditional print textbook
• 76% of respondents said the resources provided in Revel made the program a good value for the course

One student said:

“I enjoyed being able to practice after the reading. It was also helpful to be able to use the homework and quizzes to help me prepare for exams.”

Click here to read more >

Learn more about how Revel for Financial Institutions and Markets could benefit your course by visiting: 
https://www.pearson.com/asia/revel/educators/browse-products/disciplines/finance.html

In 2018, Pearson worked with Garth Neufeld, Instructor at Cascadia College in Bothell, WA to investigate whether the use of Revel Psychology helped students succeed.

Researchers found that:

• When Revel was implemented in the course, average student exam scores improved.
• Students who earned higher average Revel quiz scores also earned higher average final exam scores.
• Average final course grades improved when Revel was required in the course.

Click here to read the full case study or continue reading to learn more.

Why did Garth Neufeld adopt Revel?

Instructor Neufeld has taught Psych 100 online for several years. In Summer 2018 he redesigned the course to address issues with student engagement and reading completion. He hoped that by introducing Revel™ and restructuring the course assignments, students would be more likely to read the course content, complete the assignments, and be more engaged in the course.

How was Revel used in his course?

Neufeld created weekly Revel assignments, including readings and module and chapter quizzes and were due before the chapter was covered in class. Weekly Revel assignments are worth a combined 15% of the final course grade.

Did Revel improve student success?

Student performance data from Spring 2018 and Winter 2018 were used to compare results after implementing Revel. Data indicate students earned higher average final exam scores (final exam scores of zero were removed from analysis) when the course was redesigned and Revel was implemented.

Students earned higher average final course GPAs when the course was redesigned and Revel was used than during the two course terms prior to redesign.

Did students like using Revel?

Students’ survey comments regarding their Revel experience included:

• “[Revel] is a great way to learn — easy and effective with videos and mini quizzes.”
• “All the information needed to view and study is very accessible. This includes textbook information, grades, and announcements. It's very organized.”

Click here to read more >

Learn more about how Revel Psychology could benefit your course by visiting: 

https://www.pearsonhighered.com/revel/educators/browse-products/disciplines/psychology.html

Pearson’s Efficacy and Learning team reviewed six of the top OER competitors and evaluated Pearson’s strengths against each of these offerings.

Through this work we found that Pearson excels with supporting instructors and helping student achieve personalized outcomes.

Read the complete findings here, or continue reading to find out how.

Low Cost, High Quality, Trusted Results

Pearson’s solutions are low-cost, and we are committed to measuring our impact on the outcomes that matter most to learners and educators. Efficacy is central to Pearson’s design and evaluation process.

In 2018, Pearson was the first education company to publish third-party audited and independently reviewed reports in an effort to establish transparency and ensure confidence that is unmatched in commercial education. We continue to publish research that investigates our impact on outcomes.

This is opposed to no-cost solutions that do not have comparable efficacy research on impact and engagement. Pearson’s commitment to efficacy is a key differentiator against OER resources.

Instructor Flexibility

Pearson content is designed for impact and offers customization opportunities. Instructors can:

• Exclude assessment items or add their own items
• Alter the number of attempts that students are allowed
• Weigh grades according to their needs
• Include adaptive features and exclude chapters as required.

This high degree of flexibility supports instructor’s needs while not compromising on quality.

Personalized support for all learners

Pearson offers embedded practice and personalized support to all levels of learners.

In addition, Pearson provides low stakes, embedded, non-graded assignments to help students gain personalized practice. This is not something OER resources can do.

Free, all-in-one solutions lack the degree of adaptivity and personalization Pearson products offer. This means a Pearson product is more likely to meet the diverse needs of a large class in a more supportive, personalized way.

Learner Support and Next Generation Solutions

Pearson regularly creates new features that support student learning, deeper understanding, retention and personalization.

Revel includes features competitors don’t have such as shared writing, journaling prompts, and video quizzes – all shown to deepen learning and improve learning gains.

Further, Pearson offers relevant, engaging content that often incorporates current events that help learners see the application in their day-to-day lives.

Read the full findings here

Learn more about Efficacy and Research at Pearson

Pearson surveyed 7 instructors and conducted 3 interviews in spring 2021 to better understand how they used and experienced Revel’s “Organizational Behavior: Developing Skills for Managers” by Lamm & Tosti-Kharas during a pilot period.

Through this work, we found that Revel delivers an engaging learning experience with high-quality content that promotes student success and supports instructors.

Read the complete findings here or continue reading to understand what they have to say.

In spring 2018, Pearson worked with Lecturer Donald Fisher at Dixie State University in St George, UT to investigate whether the use of Revel Marketing by Solomon, Marshall, and Stuart helped students succeed.

In Fall 2017, Pearson worked with Associate Professor Eileen Taylor at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, NC to investigate whether the use of Revel for Accounting Information Systems (AIS) by Romney helped students succeed.

In Fall 2017, Pearson worked with Lecturer Jacki Brucher Moore at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, IA to investigate whether the use of Revel for Communication: Making Connections by Seiler and Beall helped students succeed.

In Fall 2017, Pearson worked with Dr Wurie at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA to investigate whether the use of Revel for Criminal Investigation: The Art and the Science by Lyman helped students succeed.

Pearson interviewed Jeffery Byrd, a full-time professor at the University of Northern Iowa, in the winter of 2020 to understand how he’s using and experiencing Revel Art.

Read the complete findings here or continue reading to understand what they have to say. 

Revel has interactive features that bring art to life

Jeffrey finds the images and interactives in Revel give his students the opportunity to experience art in a way they were unable to in a traditional textbook, which has improved their performance.

“I think they are doing better on the tests now that they are using Revel. Art history is all about images. There are activities where they really get to interact with the images and that’s been really helpful.”

Revel’s videos resonate with students

Most of Jeffrey’s students take his course straight out of high school. They find the material a bit of a challenge, as the vast majority of them have never viewed famous pieces of artwork in person before.

“The student generated content is crucial because they hear somebody their own age who’s excited about art, which really makes a difference. They feel like it’s not exotic or foreign to them anymore, it’s not beyond them.”

Revel engages students with a sense of space and place

All the interactive features in Revel immerse students in art and capture their attention, according to Jeffrey, especially compared to a traditional textbook.

“I think students are more engaged. I think it really has to do with the fact that they are not just reading a book; they have videos, audio reading to them, and interactive components where they are able to engage with an image in a very interactive way. All of those interactives are really engaging to them. I really do think it helps them to connect with the material much better.”

Revel increases student confidence

Having the audio feature and ability to hear other people give correct pronunciations in relation to artwork helps curb some of the nervousness that prevent students from speaking up in class, which in turn increases student confidence.

“I think Revel helps them gain confidence in their learning because it brings art alive in a way that a regular textbook just can’t do. This material is very foreign to them. The audio feature and hearing someone say the words really helps students talk about the material because now they are not afraid of mispronouncing something. It has all to do with the sense that they are hearing somebody else say these words. They are hearing other people relate to the content and it makes it so much more of their own experience.”

Revel helps students retain information

Jeffrey’s main goal for switching to Revel was for students to retain more information. With Revel, his goal has been achieved.

“I think there has been an improvement when it comes to retention. They are able to remember more of the material and I think it has a lot to do with the way they interact with the material. It is not only the reading audio feature, but also the embedded quizzes. I think they are really beneficial.”

Read the full findings here

Learn more about how Revel Art could benefit your course

Pearson interviewed instructors across the United States in fall 2020 to understand how they’re using and experiencing Revel History. Through this work, we found that Revel History empowers students to actively participate in learning.

Read the complete findings here or continue reading to understand what they have to say. 

Revel improves student performance

David Toye, full-time professor at Northeast State Community College in Tennessee, finds that when his students use Revel, they perform better both in class and overall in the course, as compared to those who don’t take advantage of its learning resources.

“I see that students who are engaged with Revel and reading the textbook are doing very well in my course. The ones who do not read generally get a C or worse. The ones who are doing the reading come to class and are more likely to speak up and do well on class activities.”

Revel engages students

Kevin Brady finds value in the variety of resources in Revel because they keep students engaged in the material, therefore strengthening their knowledge of historical concepts.

“The [interactives] keep them engaged. Once they finish a video they get to see the quizzes, the primary document, activities and more videos. It is kind of building upon what they can see next. It’s like entertainment for them.”

Revel contains high quality content and authoritative authors

Kevin Brady appreciates the author’s style and ability to write a textbook that resonates with students of all levels, not just those desiring to be history majors. The author’s ability to entice students to delve deeper into history is one of the main reasons he continues to utilize Revel.

“I love H.W. Brands. He is a phenomenal storyteller. He definitely has charisma, a real knack for this. He is not only a great speaker, but he is also a great writer. He is so concise, with a bullet-point type style, so the information is not overwhelming for students. He writes in such a way that he’s not dumbing it down for anybody, but he’s not keeping it at such a level that only a history major would understand it. Students walk away from the chapters knowing the main themes. During our class meetings I will ask students what they did not understand, if there were any issues, and I don’t see that much from students [since implementing Revel]. It is not like I used to see when I used other textbooks where students were so confused about the material. This textbook works so much better.”

Revel supports instructors

Revel is so well aligned with David Kiracofe’s course requirements, he has made all of his assessments come from Revel, which made the program an integral part of the course design. He finds designing the course around Revel easy.

“Customizing the textbook and being able to pull stuff out of it is really helpful. It is very intuitive to be able to go in there with that flexibility within Revel to customize. It is easy to do. It is easy clicking.”

Read the full findings here

Learn more about how Revel History could benefit your course

Pearson interviewed instructors across the United States in early fall 2020 to understand how they’re using and experiencing Revel Political Science. Through this work, we found that the high-quality, relevant content in Revel Political Science helps students succeed.

Read the complete findings here or continue reading to understand what they have to say. 

Revel has current & relatable content that applies to students’ everyday lives

David Dr. Rich Haesly, full-time professor at California State University Long Beach, finds real value in Revel’s Current Events Bulletins because they highlight important events. The Bulletins also strongly resonate with the students and establish high-quality writing prompts that engage students and encourage informed discussion.

“The Current Events Bulletins…are ripped from the headlines. [They are] ideas that become really great sources for writing prompts. This is stuff [students] need to know, not just to do well in the course, but they are important ideas to think about.”

Revel helps students succeed

Terri Evans finds students who take advantage of Revel quizzes perform better when compared to those who don’t utilize Revel.

“For the students that do not do well on their exam or need some improvement, the first thing I do is go into Revel and see if they are even using the system. I found for those students that are not using Revel to do some testing along the way, compared to those that do, there is a grade difference there.”

“The students that did take up work in Revel, it helped them. It helped them prepare for their final exam and their learning improved.”

Revel monitors student engagement & performance

Dr. Elizabeth Williams monitors student engagement and performance to intervene with struggling students.

“The student performance data I receive (on individual students, their grade trend, and time spent on task) allow me to tailor much earlier intervention with struggling students. I meet with them earlier in the term, well before poor performance on much more heavily weighed exams. It is a sort of preventive academic counselling, and very active listening on my part.”

Read the full findings here

Learn more about how Revel Political Science could benefit your course

Pearson interviewed instructors across the United States in mid-summer 2020 to understand how they’re using and experiencing Revel Psychology.

Through this work, we found that Revel Psychology empowers students to actively participate in learning.

Read the complete findings here or continue reading to understand what they have to say.

Revel connects Psychology to everyday life

Kathleen Hughes, full-time professor at Pasco Hernando State College in Florida, believes Revel is a valuable tool that helps students understand their own everyday lives. The content is designed to connect psychology to real-life, explain why psychology matters, and how to apply it to life.

“One of the priorities I have is helping students to understand themselves, their role as students, how to do better, and how to be a better student. I think giving them Revel, a tool that helps support that, helps their everyday life of just being a student.”

Revel contains quality, up-to-date content

Garth Neufeld, full-time professor at Cascadia College in Washington, finds the way the book is laid out resonates with students, saying:

“I think the way the book is written and the way it is presented is extremely applied and relevant to my students’ lives.”

In addition, Garth appreciates the specific textbook he uses in his General Psychology course as he thinks “it does a great job of being current.”

Revel develops critical thinking skills

Lisa Bohon finds that Revel enhances her students’ abilities to think critically.

“The writing and personality inventories develop critical thinking. I have taken essay questions from the Pearson test bank as a starting point and have students write about the topics and respond to someone else. In doing that, that’s part of critical thinking, your ability to take something abstract and then thinking about something in the real world that applies to you.”

Revel improves performance

Dr. Bernadette O’Leary sees students performing better in their homework, exams, and overall grades due to the support Revel offers with comprehension and retention.

“I've noticed an increase, a wonderful increase, in student performance and not only course grades, but points that they earn from each chapter. [Students are] more attuned, they're comprehending more, they're remembering more. I notice that in the point values, as they're doing the homework and then also as they are preparing for the exams. So, I do think that a companion site like Revel can actually help students comprehend as well as retain more information.”

Read the full findings here 

Learn more about how Revel Psychology could benefit your course

Pearson interviewed instructors across the United States in spring 2020 to understand how they’re using and experiencing Revel Introduction to Sociology by Macionis.

Through this work, we found that Revel Sociology delivers an engaging learning experience while developing the necessary skills and knowledge to be successful in class.

Read the complete findings here or continue reading to understand what they have to say.

Revel engages students

Wes Abercrombie, professor at Midlands Technical College in South Carolina, believes that the variety of resources available in Revel engage a broad range of students. It is flexible enough to cater to their differing needs, all while aligning to what students are reading and what is being addressed in class. Wes explains:

“Revel is highly adaptable to a broad scope of different types of students. It is very useful because it allows them to go to trustworthy sources, besides my own prepared materials, that

augment what students are attempting to learn or struggling to understand. It’s been an asset to me.”

Revel increases comprehension

Wes can tell students are engaging with the material and are comprehending what they are reading, as evidenced in their work. Wes says:

“I can tell when students are reading Revel because they will bring up what they read in discussions and the articles from Revel are being integrated into assignment or term papers. [As a result], I know they are reading it, understanding it, and applying it correctly.”

Revel prepares students for class

Wes Abercrombie notices how Revel gives students a solid foundation to help them come to class with good questions, enabling them to fully participate in class and online discussions.

“It does help them be more prepared for class. Even if it doesn’t explain something, it gives them a foundation to ask a question so they can communicate what they are not understanding.”

Read the full findings here

Learn more about how Revel Sociology could benefit your course 

Pearson interviewed professors across the United States between the summer of 2020 and the winter of 2021 to understand how they’re using and experiencing Revel.

Read the complete findings here or continue reading to understand what they have to say.

Revel improves results and helps students succeed

Kevin Brady, full-time History professor at Tidewater Community College, has found that students who take advantage of Revel are performing better overall in his course.

“I am seeing student success in my class. Very few students fail my course. They are consistently pulling As and Bs and I think the videos are really helping them, as they don’t discourage them. They don’t overwhelm [students]. They are one of the best features of Revel. It keeps me going back to Revel to say I am not going to change anything about this.”

Revel engages students and increases their confidence through active participation in learning

David Kiracofe, full-time professor of History at a 2-year school in the southeast, has seen an increase in student engagement and confidence when utilizing Revel, which translates to improved performance.

“Overall, Revel really helps keep students engaged, so their performance improves.  When we’re in a standard class where I gave paper and pencil quizzes, they ran towards a B- average. With Revel, they are pushing towards an A-. I think it’s because the embedded quizzes help keep them focused and help reinforce comprehension. That improves their confidence and improves their mood.” 

Revel contains quality, up-to-date content

Dr. Rich Haesly, full-time Political Science professor at California State University Long Beach, finds real value in Revel’s Current Events Bulletins because they highlight important events.  The Bulletins also strongly resonate with students and establish high-quality writing prompts that engage students and encourage informed discussion.  

“The Current Events Bulletins…are ripped from the headlines. [They are] ideas that become really great sources for writing prompts. This is stuff [students] need to know, not just to do well in the course, but they are important ideas to think about.”  

Revel connects content to everyday life

David Raymond, full-time professor of Political Science at Northern Maine Community College, believes the textbook author and intro videos in Revel help students see the application of political science in their lives.  

“[The author] is good when it comes to bringing in the real-world connection in his textbook, especially in the intro videos that connect concepts for the students so they can see Political Science does have a relevancy for them.”

Read the full findings here

Learn more about how Revel could benefit your course

Pearson interviewed instructors across the United States in the winter of 2020 to understand how they’re using and experiencing Revel Criminal Justice.

Read the complete findings here or continue reading to understand what they have to say.

Revel helps students succeed

Mike Penrod, emeritus professor at Kirkwood Community College in Iowa, has seen how the content based on learning science in Revel has helped his students be successful in his courses through increased retention and critical thinking skills.

“The way Revel is set up, it’s brain-based learning methodology. The more times you get to look at the material, through the embedded quizzes, SharedWriting, end-of-chapter quizzes, they are seeing the

content constantly broken down into smaller pieces and it just makes a lot of sense…I think Revel has helped not just with learning, but the number of students who stick with the course too…SharedWriting helps develop critical thinking skills. It’s not just a regurgitation of information, but they have to think about the issues out there in the real world.”

Revel fosters student satisfaction

While John Baker, full-time professor at St. Cloud University in Minnesota, gets calls from other publishers every day and has used other platforms aside from Revel before, the main reason he sticks with Revel is because his students prefer it over all others as indicated through end-of-year surveys.

“Students love the Revel platform. We love it. It is accessible to them on multiple devices…they like the ease of it. They like the ability to listen to each chapter, pretty much everything that is involved with Revel…and the cost is very, very good too.”

Revel is a tool that supports instructors

Mark Eger, part-time professor at Yuba College in California, appreciates the reduction in workload when it comes to setting his course up in Revel.

“It is much more labor intensive when you have to set up a course yourself. With Revel you just sit back and watch. You interject if needed and watch the students chart their path. I am a firm believer in this program.”

Revel builds an online community

SharedWriting assignments help Mike Penrod and John Baker establish dialogue between students, which can be challenging in an online environment.

“I really like the SharedWriting assignments. They are like discussions in a lot of ways. Now that we are stuck totally online, they help to build some type of community.”

Read the full findings here

Learn more about how Revel Criminal Justice could benefit your course

In Spring 2016, Pearson worked with Associate Professor Sara Beaudrie at Arizona State University to investigate whether the use of MySpanishLab helped students succeed.

Pearson interviewed instructors across the United States in winter 2020-2021 to understand how they’re using and experiencing Revel Communication.

Read the complete findings here or continue reading to understand what they have to say.

Revel helps students succeed

Seth Horning, adjunct professor at DePaul University, saw a drastic improvement in grades after using Revel Communication, commenting:

”My students’ quiz scores were much higher in Revel (as compared to when it was not utilized). I was really happy with their Revel quiz scores. They were typically in the 90% or higher range for all students.”

Rebecca Cooney, scholarly associate professor at Washington State University, has seen her students’ writing skills and overall proficiency increase since adopting Revel. She says:

“I have been seeing an improvement in writing quality overall and an improvement in competence.”

Revel builds an online community

Laura Carr, full-time professor at Dallas College in Texas, utilizes SharedWriting as a way to facilitate interaction between students online.

“Revel is great for online courses because built into it are times where students can interact, particularly with the SharedWriting.”

Revel is a tool that supports instructors

Rebecca Cooney believes the content in Revel is aligned to her course curriculum so well that she could run the entire course out of Revel. She explains:

“You could run the class out of Revel and the textbook. You could use the book as your curriculum. It really is that comprehensive. I could dump everything into Revel and just run it from there. It is that in line with our curriculum map… I like having an anchor and I think having Revel gives that anchor for the entire curriculum.”

Read the full findings here

Learn more about how Revel Communication could benefit your course

In fall 2015, Pearson worked with St. Catharine College in Kentucky to investigate whether the use of MySpanishLab helped students succeed.

In fall 2013, Pearson worked Leslie Goldstein, Senior Lecturer at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado, to investigate whether the use of MyLab Math helped students succeed.
 

In fall 2015, Pearson worked with Yolanda Manzano, Professor of Mathematics at Richland College in Dallas, TX to investigate whether the use of MyLab Math helped students succeed.
 

In Spring 2015, Pearson worked with Professor Tim Green at Miami Dade College to investigate whether the use of MySpanishLab helped students succeed.

In spring 2018, Pearson worked with Professor Mike Puopolo at Bunker Hill Community College to investigate whether the use of badging within MyLab IT is beneficial for students.

In fall 2018, Pearson worked with Professor Tim Green at North Georgia Technical Institute in Clarkesville, GA to investigate whether the use of Revel for Personal Finance Experience by Pratt, Weitzel, and Rhodes helped students succeed.