MyLab IT homework positively impacts student success

Pearson | September 17, 2021 in Meaningful Outcomes

September 17, 2021, 09:00 , 09:00 by Pearson

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How MyLab IT contributes to student success and students’ response to Pearson Inclusive Access/LMS integration

In Fall 2018, Professor Robert Huyck at Mohawk Valley Community College in Utica, NY partnered with Pearson to investigate whether MyLab IT™ and eTexts GO! With Office 2016 Volume 1 by Gaskin, Vargas, Geoghan, and Graviett and Technology in Action by Evans, Martin, and Poatsy positively impacted student success in his Computers and Society course.

Researchers found that:

95% of student survey respondents agreed that they prefer to have required course materials included in the course fee (through Pearson Inclusive Access) rather than having to purchase them on their own.
90% of student survey respondents indicated an appreciation for LMS integration that simplified the experience of accessing MyLab IT via Blackboard without needing a separate login and password.
As the completion rate of homework assignments increased, the unit exam average also increased.
Students who scored 90–100% on unit Grader Project homework in MyLab IT had higher corresponding unit exam scores than students who scored 80–89% on Grader Project homework.

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

Why does Professor Robert Huyck utilize MyLab IT?

When MyLab IT was adopted in 2007 by the department, Huyck welcomed the addition of technology, as he previously graded all course assignments by hand. Huyck appreciates how MyLab IT autogrades all work and has saved him time. He especially loves the Grader Projects, specifically how they allow students to learn about and correct their errors, and in the process, become more independent learners.

Inclusive Access/LMS integration

In Fall 2017, Pearson’s Inclusive Access program was implemented course-wide, giving students direct access to their digital course materials on the first day of class at a reduced cost and included in their course fee. All students are able to log in and interact with the assignments and eText as soon as they receive their Learning Management System (LMS)-course access and the access code from the instructor.

On an end-of-semester survey,

90% of respondents agreed that “Having first-day-of-class access to MyLab IT increased my chance of getting a good grade."
95% of respondents agreed with the statement, “I prefer to have the required course materials included in the course fee rather than having to purchase them on my own."

How was MyLab IT implemented?

Class meets twice a week for 55 minutes of lecture and another 55 minutes of lab over a 14-week semester. Lab time is primarily used for students to work in MyLab IT. MyLab homework includes 23 Grader Projects and 12 Simulation Trainings. Other assessments include four Unit exams/MS Office application Capstone Grader Projects and a Midterm and final exam. MyLab IT homework accounts for 10% of the overall course grade.

Were students successful in the course

To study the potential impact of homework completion on the unit exam average, results examine the average Capstone Grader Project score averaging all four Microsoft Office unit exams.

As the completion rate of homework assignments increased, the unit exam average also increased, from 66% for students completing 70–79% of homework to 84% for students who completed 100% of homework.

In addition, Students who scored 90–100% on unit Grader Project homework had corresponding unit exam scores 9 percentage points higher than students who scored 80-89% on Grader Project homework and 11 percentage points higher than students scoring less than 80%.