• Classroom Piloting and Evaluation
We have conducted focused evaluations of the individual modules in a diverse set of 12 post-secondary institutions, including public and private institutions, liberal arts institutions and research universities, and minority-serving universities. The tutor has been piloted in a variety courses across these institutions, ranging from introductory biology to upper level genetics courses.
Across all these contexts, we have conducted and analyzed 27 pretest-posttest evaluations of the available modules. Each of these single-unit evaluations consisted of (1) a proctored paper-and-pencil pretest (about 20 minutes); (2) completion of the Genetics Tutor problem solving module (roughly one hour); and (3) a proctored paper-and-pencil posttest (about 20 minutes). The paper-and-pencil tests consisted of problems similar to the Cognitive Tutor problems and two paper test forms were constructed for each module. The tests were designed to be very challenging for students, in order to avoid ceiling effects in measuring learning gains. Each form serves as the pretest for half the students, who then switch to the other form for the posttest, so that the pretests and posttests are matched across the full set of students, but for each student the pretest and posttest are different. A total of 801 students participated in these evaluations.
|
