1. Does “Grade it Now” Option in Aplia Improve Student Learning? Josefine Skӧld Martine Malde Dr. Veronika Dolar Department of Economics College of Liberal Arts and Sciences What is Aplia? Online homework tools are becoming more apparent in education. In in the late 1990’s Paul Romer developed Aplia, an online learning solution built to increase student effort and engagement. In the original version Aplia students would get feedback after the deadline of their assignments, a method called Grade at Deadline (GAD). In the fall of 2008 Aplia introduced a new tool called Grade it Now (GIN). This new option allowed students to get immediate feedback of their work with detailed explanations of the problem. Background Although previous literature suggest that online homework tools help student learning (Lee, Courtney, & Balassi, 2010), there have yet been any evidence suggesting that there would be a difference between using “Grade it Now” compared to “Grade at Deadline” for students using Aplia. Average (St.d)Median Age22.67 (5.49)20.79 GPA2.71 (0.76)2.75 Homework78.47 (17.53)83.54 Midterm Exam78.18 (15.84)80.00 Final Exam68.63 (21.89)72.06 Final Grade76.54 (16.85)79.60 Method Data was collected from 12 different macro- and microeconomics sections during 2008 and 2009 at Cleveland State University, Ohio. All sections were taught by the same professor using the same textbook and online learning tool. However, sections in 2008 used the “Grade at Deadline” version of Aplia, while sections in 2009 used a new version with a “Grade it Now” option. To analyze the data we performed regression analysis using statistical software, STATA SE 13. Hypothesis Our hypothesis was that the “Grade it Now” option would have a positive effect on the students learning and final grade in the class. Results We found that the “Grade it Now” option had a positive relationship with the final grade at a 0.05 significance level. References Lee, W., Courtney, H. R., & Balassi, J. S. (2010). Do Online Homework Tools Improve Student Results in Principle of Microeconomic Courses? The American Economic Review, 100(2), 283-286. Coefficient s Standard ErrorLCLUCLt Statp-levelH0 (5%) reject? Intercept8.360.966.4710.248.720.E+0Yes Grade it Now1.320.270.791.864.840.Yes Morning1.490.470.562.423.160.Yes Year-0.550.16-0.85-0.24-3.510.Yes Sex-0.690.28-1.25-0.14-2.450.01Yes Age-0.010.03-0.060.04-0.420.68No Race-0.020.19-0.40.35-0.120.9No GPA1.440.240.971.925.980.Yes Major Group0.130.070.0.261.90.06No Homework0.370.010.350.3934.140.E+0Yes Midterm 10.060.010.040.078.241.44E-15Yes Midterm 2-0.010.01-0.020.01-0.890.37No Final Exam0.480.010.460.4953.480.E+0Yes Final Grade = 8.3561 + 1.3243 * Grade it Now+ 1.4907 * Morning- 0.5456 * Year - 0.6931 * Sex - 0.0112 * Age - 0.0233 * Race + 1.4443 * GPA + 0.1288 * Major Group + 0.3681 * Homework + 0.0565 * Midterm 1- 0.0057 * Midterm 2+ 0.4750 * Final Exam Regression Statistics R0.98 R Square0.97 Adjusted R Square0.97 Standard Error3.03 Total Number of Cases529 d.f.SSMSFP-value Regression12136,988.2311,415.691,240.610.E+0 Residual5164,748.069.2 Total528141,736.29