Friday, March 23, 2012

Week 2 in MITx: Feedback in the System

So homework 2 has proved to be quite a bit more difficult. There is no easy question like there was in the first homework. Now I must apply the Thevenin Method to solve a circuit with input and output voltages. Never did I think turning on the light could be so complicated (it actually is probably a simple circuit). Today, my iron broke and I briefly thought about trying to take it apart to find the problem. But I'll probably just get to Target for a new one.

What is the best kind of feedback that you can receive in a massive online course? Lately, I get the red "x" a ton as, there's no denying it, I have a harder time in the class. (Reminder: your answers are assessed immediately by the system: green check means yay!, red x means grr.) The red X propels me to keep studying…I try to think of it as x marks the spot you need to study more.

Feedback has been studied extensively--a significant meta-analysis of feedback was published in 2007 that indicated that cues had the highest effect size. Simple praise had a very small effect size. And feedback about a correct answer had a greater effect size than feedback about incorrect answer--this is particularly difficult feedback to get in a large online course in which I sometimes don't fully understand the answers I'm getting.

The research says to seek out cues, and I could use more cues in my work in MITx. I seem to be able to find them by consulting the discussion forum at just the right time, with a posting that does not give away the entire answer.

More thoughts about peer tutoring in MITx. I posted my first question (about how to identify parallel resistors) and shortly received several responses. In the system, I was able to choose the correct answer--and I was gratified to see that I could choose more than one correct answer. This system of allowing people to accept answers helps to close discussion threads that might continue even after they are useful to people. Being able to accept more than one answer shows that MITx values multiple perspectives and different ways of explaining a concept.

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