MyLab IT Efficacy Report

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For an overview of MyLab IT and more information:

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Does attempting more unique MyLab IT assignments result in higher exam scores?
A study exploring use of MyLab IT at a four-year university

We wanted to explore if the use of MyLab IT helps students achieve better exam results. So we worked with the faculty at a mid-sized, four-year university in the Mid-Western US, where students were using MyLab IT during the 2015–2016 academic year in an introductory information technology course, Business Problem Solving with IT.

We proposed that MyLab IT usage and performance would be correlated with achievement on independently administered course exams.

In this course, the instructor assigned individual activities within MyLab IT as practice and homework exercises and also combined MyLab IT resources to generate course exams designed to assess students’ programming skills. MyLab IT’s simulation and Grader activities were both used, though with an emphasis on Grader activities.

We measured usage by looking at:

  • the number of unique MyLab IT activities each student attempted
  • the number of times each student repeated MyLab IT activities
  • the total time (in hours) spent on MyLab IT activities

We measured MyLab IT performance by averaging scores across each of the activities.

We found that the number of unique MyLab IT activities that a student attempted was related to their achievement in the course. We also found that 78% of students who completed the course passed the course.

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In the context of this study, conducted at a mid-sized university in the Mid-Western US for students enrolled in Business Problem Solving with IT, Pearson is able to make the following relational (correlational, not predictive) statement about the efficacy of MyLab IT:

On average, attempting an additional seven unique assignments was associated with an increase in course exam score by half a letter grade (5%).

In the context of this study, conducted at a mid-sized university in the Mid-Western US for students enrolled in Business Problem Solving with IT, Pearson is able to make the following descriptive statement about the efficacy of MyLab IT:

In our research, 78% of students who completed the course using MyLab IT passed the course.

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Transferable skills

The Microsoft Office skills MyLab IT teaches apply to many other subjects and real-life situations, as shown in a study with MacEwan University, Canada.

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“I like that [MyLab IT] got us to practice all of the skills and then try to apply them in real-life projects (Graders) and not just in tasks.”

— Student, MacEwan University, Canada

Verified skills

By awarding badges to show employers, MyLab IT prepares accounting students at the University of Wisconsin  — Milwaukee for internships, part-time work, and future careers.

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“I did not receive any complaints from students...in fact, I heard quite the opposite. A dozen of my students said, ‘I used what I learned in MyLab IT at my job today.”

— Colleen Boland, Assistant Professor, University of Wisconsin — Milwaukee, US

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