While the nine classes considered originally began with a total enrolment of approximately 450, students who withdrew midway through the semester or failed to ever attend class are excluded from the results. As a result, there was a very strong positive correlation between the overall scores obtained on the written homework assignments (M = 78.08, SD = 23.07) and the combined exams (M = 72.76 SD = 17.51), with r = 0.71, p < 0.001, N = 375. This is noteworthy given that the exams (which are graded according to a standard quantitative rubric) are timed, whereas homework is not. A scatterplot, with line of best fit, is shown in the Figure below.
Figure 1 about here With regard to attendance, the combined number of students present from the three …show more content…
This was viewed positivity, especially it seems because it was a mathematics class, where attendance is perceived as being more important due to the difficulty of reading through textbooks in order to catch up: “I think [the correlation between attendance and attainment] pertains more so in math than it other subjects, because you need to go to class to understand the material.” Others saw the method as rewarding their diligence in always attending the lectures: “If you didn’t come to class, then you got a bad homework grade. It’s a good thing for those who are putting in the …show more content…
While the card drawing technique is a playful method of random homework selection, it answers the call of Cooper et al. [4] in considering “non-achievement-related effects of homework” (p. 54), and more specifically addresses two contemporary important issues facing mathematics educators. The first is classroom attendance. Romer [18] discussed how absenteeism is “rampant” in undergraduate classes, adding that “steps to increase attendance, including making attendance mandatory, may deserve serious consideration” (p. 167). This study addresses that point, and provides a method which has worked extremely well in calculus classes with approximately 50 students. The second issue is how to improve the writing skills of calculus students before it is too late for them to realistically major in mathematics. While admitting that “our information-obsessed culture sacrifices detail for immediacy,” Montgomery and Stuffelbeam [14] contend that “now, more than ever, undergraduate curricula must emphasize the writing
Figure 1 about here With regard to attendance, the combined number of students present from the three …show more content…
This was viewed positivity, especially it seems because it was a mathematics class, where attendance is perceived as being more important due to the difficulty of reading through textbooks in order to catch up: “I think [the correlation between attendance and attainment] pertains more so in math than it other subjects, because you need to go to class to understand the material.” Others saw the method as rewarding their diligence in always attending the lectures: “If you didn’t come to class, then you got a bad homework grade. It’s a good thing for those who are putting in the …show more content…
While the card drawing technique is a playful method of random homework selection, it answers the call of Cooper et al. [4] in considering “non-achievement-related effects of homework” (p. 54), and more specifically addresses two contemporary important issues facing mathematics educators. The first is classroom attendance. Romer [18] discussed how absenteeism is “rampant” in undergraduate classes, adding that “steps to increase attendance, including making attendance mandatory, may deserve serious consideration” (p. 167). This study addresses that point, and provides a method which has worked extremely well in calculus classes with approximately 50 students. The second issue is how to improve the writing skills of calculus students before it is too late for them to realistically major in mathematics. While admitting that “our information-obsessed culture sacrifices detail for immediacy,” Montgomery and Stuffelbeam [14] contend that “now, more than ever, undergraduate curricula must emphasize the writing