the bobcat online homework help
The Impact of Online Homework Help on Student Learning: A Comprehensive Analysis
In this paper, we provide the first comprehensive analysis of the impact of college students’ use of online homework help on student learning. Our paper has two objectives. The first is descriptive: given students’ use of internet homework help for their mathematics homework and the large stakes such homework problems typically have for their course grades, we want to understand better the role online homework appears to be playing in student learning of mathematics. In addition, we use one-on-one matching methods to generate unbiased estimates of the effect of students’ exposure to internet homework help. To do so, we use administrative records that are available in the context for what is, to our knowledge, the largest sample used in previous evaluations of college homework help.
Online homework help is everywhere. Hundreds of thousands of students in great numbers of colleges and universities all over the United States log on to a variety of tutoring websites each year, where they interact with tutors for help with their homework. The educational goods they are generally being offered are answers to end-of-chapter problems and tutoring in mathematics. For the most part, the helpers are college instructors or graduate students who have been vetted and trained by the website operator. The costs for all of this are often paid by the students themselves in the form of subscription fees or charges for tutoring help, and can cost a pretty penny over the course of an academic year. In the aggregate, recent survey data suggest that over 400,000 students use some form of online homework help for their mathematics homework each year. Yet despite the rapid rise in the availability and use of this service, to our knowledge, there has been no systematic analysis assessing its impact on learning.
The Varsity Tutors platform allows for live, one-on-one homework help between an educator and a student. Given this platform’s design, there are several benefits and several limitations that emerge. The following discussion outlines the positive and negative aspects of using Varsity Tutors. Oftentimes, educators and students need additional resources to explore classroom topics. For example, a high school student may want to learn more about organic chemistry to support her AP Chemistry coursework, or an AP US History teacher may be unable to answer all of the students’ questions. While Varsity Tutors can be useful in providing general, ad hoc assistance with hard problems, the platform does not provide the extensive resources needed to bridge the gap between students’ current academic skills and their academic goals.
Our analysis begins with a brief overview of the specific platform on which Bobcat operates. Bobcat is a derivative of the InstaEDU platform and is now being used by over 50 entities. Although the Bobcat online homework help platform is similar in some respects to other online homework help platforms currently being used, there are additional features that contribute to the quality of the platform. This section discusses some of the benefits and limitations of the specific platform. The table below discusses three primary features of Bobcat and why they can be beneficial for the high school students who use this platform in the midst of their coursework.
Also, online homework help contains features which were designed to aid students in making efficient use of the help system. Each individual attempt section is annotated by the availability of help features, including training aids and answers from which students may select. Success demonstrated in this selection could encourage the application of experimentation in order to communicate to others the rationale. Also among the features of the online homework help system is the combination of help options which are tailored to optimal options. This includes answer preview with the immediacy hint option activated. Concerning student learning styles, an important part of maximizing homework system effectiveness is optimally pairing users to help options, which is based on user performance and perception. Given this, it is estimated that individual differences may relate sensitivity to help options. Everyone has personal learning preferences and needs, hence identifying these is of the utmost importance so as to ensure more effective learning initiatives.
Students and educators can both harness the potential benefit of online homework help platforms by implementing a number of effective strategies. Firstly, effort should be directed at breaking content pieces into manageable bites. The online platforms enable this via progressive problems, which can be solved with stepping-stone hints. When first trying an online problem, students should endeavor to solve it without the use of any hints. With the completion of each problem, students may mark their confidence in the correctness of the answers in order to better track understanding. Likewise, highly confident students should also utilize the “I’m sure” option to avoid spending excessive amounts of time solving a single problem.
Texas student with ADHD improved his algebra grade from a D to an A by using Holt Algebra. Mom was actively involved and worked with her son to get good reports from his teachers (she was then able to get him weekly passes to drag races). His homework did not reflect his final grade because they were trying to develop study skills, habits, and time management skills to help develop a healthy outlook on academics. Fixed study hours, incremental work (1 hour), and strengthening efforts pleased his teachers. Anxious high school student started by insisting “That can’t be right” several times a week and now rarely has major problems. Confusion would no longer be able to be handled at a Saturday morning study session – it required immediate access to the answers. Errors refuse to be “sailed through” but remain opportunities for teaching, for learning, and for praise. Preferred access to the internet for all homework seems to provide a security blanket that permits her to perform better.
Case studies give a detailed report of a person, group, or situation over a long period of time. They are used by researchers, educators, and program developers to gain an in-depth understanding of a particular situation or phenomenon. Typically, there is news that has been reported, or information that is known, and then the case study itself explains what happened following the event. In the context of this volume, the case studies are anecdotes from teachers and parents who have explained to me how online homework help has impacted student learning or student lives. I do not have data on how widely the following studies are representative of attempts to impact student learning, but I offer them as they are reported. Keep in mind, however, that this is not a random or a representative sample. The studies give us some indication that students do use online preprogrammed help and need access to several types and levels of such help in order to study effectively.
As web technologies continue to expand, online homework help shows no sign of disappearing. Online homework help will continue to be updated, and new products are expected to enter the market in the coming years. One area that needs to be addressed is the limited empirical evidence on the impact of homework help on learning. The few studies that have been conducted suggest that online homework help can be a powerful ally if properly integrated. It is likely to become even more powerful in the future. Given the ongoing evolution of the product landscape, we need to develop a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between individual features—like randomization and multiple attempts—and learning. Our ability to disentangle the impact of these innovative features will require more sophisticated studies. Future research is also necessary into the many intriguing issues that were not the focus of this study.
• Innovations in software design, such as intelligent decision making and the development of user profiles. • Portable online homework help that works across different devices, such as cell phones and portable music devices, or that is able to operate using an increasing number of different operating systems. • More extensive integration with other technologies, including assessment software and graphing software. • The ability for online homework help programs to remember student specific traits such as value of contemplation on homework algorithm. • Innovations in help delivery (e.g. embedded tutorials in problems). • Significant increases in the sophistication of web-based assessment tools, improving alignment between topics covered in homework help programs and topics tested on in-class exams.
Online homework help and student learning more generally are dynamic, so they are subject to constant change. Future innovations could include some combination of the following:
Future Trends and Innovations
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