Students at UMBC will soon have the ability to monitor their Blackboard usage in a new and unique way.

Through a "My Activities" link on the Blackboard site, students will be able to see the ways in which they and other students in their classes are using Blackboard. This would allow students to compare the amount they use Blackboard to that of other students in their classes.

The changes are the result of a study performed by Assistant Vice President of Instructional Technology and New Media John Fritz on Professor Suzanne Braunschweig's Fall 2008 SCI 100 (Water: An Interdisciplinary Study) course. Fritz presented his findings in February.

Fritz found that, perhaps as a result of the "obsessive status checking behavior" of modern students, they are much more likely to use Blackboard if they have more feedback on grades. This was consistent with a 2008 national study which demonstrated that students value checking grades more than any other single function on course management systems like Blackboard.

"According to the System Tool Usage Report, hits to the grade book account for about five percent of all student hits on Blackboard every semester," said Fritz. "At first, I thought this was low compared to discussion boards, documents, et cetera. But I was talking to a professor who wondered if this was one of those hits where quality really is more important than quantity."

Fritz is not positive that this may be the case, but he feels that the evidence strongly points in that direction. The data also suggests that one helpful way for professors to provide feedback to students would be the posting of an anonymous Grade Distribution Report (GDR) for past assignments. GDRs break down grades in the class based on Blackboard usage. Overall, Fritz found that in SCI 100, D and F students used Blackboard 35 percent less than those who earned Cs or above.
Students can view the system tool usage report, which breaks down usage across Blackboard tools, at umbc.edu/oit/newmedia/blackboard/stats/toolusage-System.

Providing this feedback of course also requires that professors use Blackbaord's grade book feature. Fritz feels that doing so and using that information to post GDRs would be easy for professors and help students tremendously.

"Students value checking grades and online practice exams and quizzes," Fritz said. "Combined with our CMA and GDR tools, these could provide cheap feedback that professors don't have to work too hard to provide."

Some of this feedback is, as stated, already available to students. "Flyouts" on Blackboard contain links to the CMA tool, which is updated every night at 1 a.m. for student usage. The GDR tool, however, requires that professors post scores in the grade book.

The "My Activities" link and further study of student Blackboard usage are both currently at an impasse. Fritz is deciding with Blackboard whether UMBC's IT gurus will build "My Activities" on the Blackboard site or Blackboard will do it for the school for a fee.

"[Blackboard is] very interested in what we are doing, and [has] been very helpful in helping us think through technical, pedagogical and student privacy issues," Fritz said. "Regardless of who builds the link...I would like to see it by the end of this [Spring 2009] semester, if possible, but no later than the start of Fall '09."

Student privacy questions are currently limiting further study. To perform a wider survey like Fritz made of Prof. Braunschweig's SCI 100 class, he might need permission from students to view their Blackboard usage. Further inquiry into this phenomenon and the changes to Blackboard will, Fritz hopes, allow students to become more successful users of Blackboard.

"Of course hits alone are not the sole measure of engagement [in class and with Blackboard]," Fritz said. "But for students who are surprised with they earn a D or F, maybe it's a start."

Fritz hopes that providing feedback "early and often enough" without putting too much more responsibility on professors is the key. He hopes it will help students take a more proactive approach to their learning and Blackboard usage.

"I tend to say Blackbaord is an indicator—not a cause—of student success," said Fritz. "We just haven't done enough analysis to say otherwise. We're interested in seeing how good students use Blackboard, not how Blackboard makes good students. There is a big difference."

To view Fritz's presentation on Blackboard usage, visit asp1.umbc.edu/newmedia/oit/brownbag/presentdetail.cfm?ID=712.