How do students approach homework—are they focused on learning or just getting it done? This talk explores how an online reflective module helped biology students shift their homework behaviors toward deeper learning.
All are welcome.
Please join us Thursday, 2/27, from 2:00-3:00 p.m. via zoom.
Speaker: Steven Semadeni
Title: Learning Focused or Completion Focused? Exploring Homework Behaviors in Undergraduate Biology
Summary: Formative assessments (FAs) are activities that instructors use to gauge student learning (Black and Wiliam 1998). Out-of-class FAs (i.e., homework) provide additional opportunities for students to interact with course content; however, students do not equally benefit (Eddy and Hogan 2014). Introductory biology students who lack study skills may approach homework with a “completion” focus, completing it with minimal time and cognitive effort, circumventing the intended learning gains (Brazeal et al. 2021). In this study, we developed an online reflective module for introductory biology students. The module encouraged students to reflect on their homework behaviors and helped students make learning-focused homework goals. Thematic analysis of the homework reflections provided insights on learning-focused and completion-focused student homework behaviors.