Ed/IT Digital Library

Student-Instructor E-mail Exchange in Active-Learning Biology 100

Marbach-Ad, G. & Sokolove, P.G. (2000). Student-Instructor E-mail Exchange in Active-Learning Biology 100. In Proceedings of International Conference on Mathematics / Science Education and Technology 2000 (pp. 280-285). AACE.
Retrieved from http://www.editlib.org/p/15455.

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Conference Information

MSET

International Conference on Mathematics / Science Education and Technology (MSET) 2000
2000
AACE


Authors

Gili Marbach-Ad, Phillip G. Sokolove, University of Maryland Baltimore County, United States

Abstract

Student-instructor communication was examined in a large, introductory biology class for majors (enrollment ~250). Students were encouraged to send questions, comments and suggestions to the instructor using e-mail. All messages were collected after the semester and classified as either content-related or procedural. Content-related messages typically contained questions, comments or suggestions about a topic that had been discussed the same day in class. Procedural messages included questions or requests concerning homework exercises and exams, reports about student absence from class, or requests to switch classes or sections. Messages from females and males reflected class gender distribution, but Asian and African Americans were more likely than Caucasians (relative to their class distribution) to send content-related messages. Most students whose messages were classified as content-related had earned final grades of A or B.

Keywords