ERIC Number: EJ910009
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2010
Pages: N/A
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1528-5324
EISSN: N/A
Video Demo of UMBC's "Check My Activity" Tool for Students
Fritz, John
EDUCAUSE Quarterly, v33 n4 2010
The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) uses a Blackboard course management system (CMS) to support faculty and students. To supplement the CMS, the university created a custom "Check My Activity" (CMA) self-service feedback tool for students. In addition to comparing their online course activity against a class average, students can check their activity and frequency of use against an anonymous summary of peers who earned the same, higher, or lower grade for any assignment (if instructors use the online gradebook). Although students did not adopt the tool quickly when it was announced in spring 2008, UMBC is seeing increased use and some encouraging initial results. Continued use of the CMA tool will provide more evidence testing the hypothesis that peer comparisons can perhaps influence student meta-cognition, or what is sometimes described as "thinking about thinking." This article provides a five-minute video demo which shows how the tool works, with some updates that followed acceptance for publication of a research article on the project in "The Internet and Higher Education." (Contains 2 endnotes.)
Descriptors: Feedback (Response), Database Management Systems, Courseware, Technology Uses in Education, Use Studies, Video Technology, Multimedia Materials, Self Evaluation (Individuals), Achievement Rating, Check Lists
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Maryland
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A