EVALUATION OF STUDENT ATTITUDE TOWARD LEARNING FROM HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS IN A NONPRESCRIPTION DRUGS COURSE

An objective of this project was to assess student attitude about lear ning from homework assignments in lieu of course examinations. Another objective was to evaluate two learning tools that were implemented wi th the homework assignments. First, to encourage student learning from comments provided by the grader, students received their homework ass ignments back initially without a grade. They were instructed to read their returned assignment with the grader's comments and then to predi ct the score they thought they earned. Secondly, an overall feedback s heet prepared by the graders was provided to the students for each ass ignment. Project results demonstrated that students viewed homework as signments as a good alternative to examinations for stimulating learni ng, as homework allowed gathering of information and application of kn owledge and concepts toward problem resolution. Thirty-nine percent of students felt that having the grader's comments on the homework helpe d them effectively predict their score, and that their predictive capa bility increased with successive homework assignments. Thirty-three pe rcent of the class viewed having to predict their score as being worth while in evaluating their homework submission, and that the grader's c omments were useful in preparation for the next assign ment. Twice as many students (i.e., 14 vs. 7 percent) overpredicted their homework sc ores as underpredicted them during the course. The feedback sheets wer e successful at helping students understand grader's comments and the rationale for their score.