Student success using Revel Personal Finance
Pearson | April 29, 2021 in Meaningful Outcomes
by Pearson
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.
Researchers found that:
- Final course scores increased 17 percentage points, on average
- Average homework and chapter test scores increased
- Students believed Revel helped them learn and retain the material better than a traditional textbook
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Why did Professor Green adopt Revel?
Professor Green had used a print/digital program previously in his Personal Finance course, but students found the program challenging. With basic concepts explained at an appropriate level and resources that address the different learning styles of his students, he hoped Revel would help students retain the information better.
How was Revel used in his course?
Green’s Personal Finance course is an online, three-credit one-semester course, open to all students and required for Accounting students. Green created weekly Revel assignments, including readings and pre-built exercises for each chapter. At the end of each chapter, students also completed a “Putting It All Together” mini-simulation and a chapter test. Weekly Revel assignments are worth a combined 30% of the final course grade.
Did Revel improve student success over the semester?
After implementing Revel in Fall 2018, Green saw homework, chapter test, and final course scores improve significantly compared to the previous semester:
- Average homework scores increased nine percentage points.
- Average chapter test scores increased 19 percentage points.
- Average final course scores increased 17 percentage points.
In addition, students who completed most assignments (skipped one or fewer assignments) earned average chapter test scores 10 percentage points higher than students who skipped more than one assignment.
Did the students like using Revel?
Responses from the Fall 2018 end-of-semester survey of Green’s students indicate that the majority of responding students recognize the value of Revel.
- 100% 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.
- 80% of respondents said they prefer the interactivity of Revel to a regular printed textbook.
- 100% of respondents would recommend Revel to another student.
One student said:
"I enjoyed being able to move from reading, to videos, to practice questions, and back to reading. It helped keep me better focused."
