Political Science Department Wins National Digital Learning Award

ATLANTA—The Department of Political Science was awarded the Digital Learning Innovation Award by the Online Learning Consortium (OLC) for its work using adaptive learning courseware to assess and improve individual students’ performance in an introductory class on global issues.

The Georgia State team, which included Chris Brown, senior lecturer, Jeannie Grussendorf, senior lecturer, and Ph.D. candidate Michael Shea, conducted a full-scale academic study to assess students’ engagement with adaptive learning software in both face-to-face and online classes, and compared their performance in the course to a control group of students receiving a traditional, non-adaptive presentation of the course using the same software platform. Among students receiving the adaptive version of the course, rates of grades of D or F or withdrawal from the course decreased by 20 percent in one semester measured by the trial study.

The global issues course is offered by more than 15 instructors, typically in large classroom settings, and is taken by about 2,500 students at Georgia State each year.

The $10,00 annual prize is awarded by the OLC for exemplary use of digital courseware to help undergraduate students succeed, with an emphasis on minority, first-generation and other underrepresented student groups.

The OLC is a professional organization that works to promote quality and leadership in digital learning for higher education and is supported by a $2.5 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

To learn more, go to the OLC webpage.