Small Actions Can Make a Big Difference: Low cost interventions to increase your students’ classroom performance
When
Friday, February 5, 2021 from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM CSTWhere
This is an online event. A Zoom link will be sent to you after you register.Contact
UNO STEM TRAIL Center402-554-2917
unostemtrailcenter@unomaha.edu
About the series:
Offered as a collaboration with the Center for Faculty Excellence, we aim to expose UNO and affiliated educators to new educational strategies, including within the high-impact realms of inquiry-based learning, undergraduate research, and inclusive teaching.
Facilitator: Dr. Ben Smith - Associate Professor of Economics and the Economics Department Chair at the University of Nebraska Omaha.
Abstract: A decision, like how much to study, can be impacted by the strangest things. Social norms, how easy it is to access information, and the timing of relevant information can all substantively impact how much students study — this leads to changes in student performance. In this workshop we will explore three techniques that have been shown to impact student performance in the research: sending personalized grade information about upcoming assignments, providing immediate feedback on assessments even when administered in-person, and providing students who visit office hours follow-up resources. With the help of technology, implementing these techniques in your classroom is nearly costless — all of these techniques can be implemented in under five minutes per intervention.
About the Facilitator:
Ben Smith is an Associate Professor of Economics and the Economics Department Chair at the University of Nebraska Omaha. Dr. Smith’s education research portfolio includes learning measurement issues, student incentives, and non-traditional teaching techniques. Additionally, Dr. Smith develops free education software tools that allow instructors to put education theory into practice in their classroom; these tools, collectively, are used more than 5000 times per week. Popular tools include: Grade Nudge, Create Random Assignments, and Assessment Disaggregation.