MindTap

I had always resisted using online homework in my courses. The questions seemed too easy. The answers too easily found by skimming the textbook. I remember watching my son do online Chemistry homework one year during Thanksgiving break. He answered each question in less than 15 seconds, by literally flipping furiously through his book until he found the right section and skimming for the key word that he was looking for. When I asked if he was learning anything, he just rolled his eyes.

And yet the alternative is to allow students to procrastinate and wait until the day before the test (or - GASP! - the morning of) to begin studying, and by then it is too late for many. At least this way you have to keep up.

MindTap is not perfect. Many of the questions are much easier than what you will find on my tests. But some of it is really good (especially the Case Problem Blueprints), and if you approach the homework as a way to reinforce the course material rather than as a chore to quickly get through, you might actually benefit.

Oh yeah, and pay attention to the due dates!

#StudyTips #ProfessorInsight