Analyzing the impact of course structure on electronic textbook use in blended introductory physics courses
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Seaton_2014_eText.pdf
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Author(s)
Seaton, Daniel T.
Kortemeyer, Gerd
Bergner, Yoav
Rayyan, Saif
Pritchard, David E.
Date Issued
December 2014
Journal
American Journal of Physics
Publisher
American Institute of Physics (AIP)
Citation
Seaton, Daniel T., Gerd Kortemeyer, Yoav Bergner, Saif Rayyan, and David E. Pritchard. “Analyzing the Impact of Course Structure on Electronic Textbook Use in Blended Introductory Physics Courses.” American Journal of Physics 82, no. 12 (December 2014): 1186–1197.
Version
Author's final manuscript
Abstract
We investigate how elements of course structure (i.e., the frequency of assessments as well as the sequencing and weight of course resources) influence the usage patterns of electronic textbooks (e-texts) in introductory physics courses. Specifically, we analyze the access logs of courses at Michigan State University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, each of which deploy e-texts as primary or secondary texts in combination with different formative assessments (e.g., embedded reading questions) and different summative assessment (exam) schedules. As such studies are frequently marred by arguments over what constitutes a “meaningful” interaction with a particular page (usually judged by how long the page remains on the screen), we consider a set of different definitions of “meaningful” interactions. We find that course structure has a strong influence on how much of the e-texts students actually read, and when they do so. In particular, courses that deviate strongly from traditional structures, most notably by more frequent exams, show consistently high usage of the materials with far less “cramming” before exams.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Research Laboratory of Electronics
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Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1119/1.4901189
