Put down the pool floats, fruit smoothies, and sunblock: the fall semester is beginning! As you begin to prepare your courses, you may find yourself overwhelmed with choices about course design, assignment sheets, and student engagement. Sometimes, the easiest way to incorporate innovative teaching in these busy semester moments is through simple interventions with large impacts. I recently talked to Dr. Fred Coleman, Clinical Associate Professor of Accounting, who uses a creative technique to keep his students alert and engaged: allowing them to identify errors and provide alternative explanations. This active-learning approach encourages students to stay invested and allows them to practice critical skills of summary, explanation, and linking concepts, and their help assists Coleman in revising future courses.

The Set Up

At the start of his course, Coleman tells his students they can earn extra credit for finding errors in his course materials (the syllabus, Canvas announcements, slides, problem-sets, etc.). Students email him with any errors they find, and he provides bonus points. Coleman also offers points if students can provide alternative explanations or examples of tricky course content. When asked about his inspiration for the topic, Coleman explained that in his years of teaching, he has noticed that students will often work harder “for one bonus point than they do for 100 regular points in the course.” In addition, identifying errors falls directly in line with Coleman’s content goals; his students must be prepared to find holes and gaps in logic in their future accounting and finance work.

The Classroom Effect

Coleman says that awarding points for identifying errors during lecture keeps students attentive, and identifying errors in class problems causes students to make the calculations themselves rather than relying solely on his explanations. Since incorporating this strategy, Coleman has seen a general uptick of student engagement: “In general, student engagement (in and out of class) has increased by incorporating this activity. Because student engagement has increased, I focus more deeply on fewer important concepts and students seem to understand the covered concepts better.” Coleman’s observations are directly supported by pedagogical research about helping students solidify their knowledge. The active learning activity of identifying errors and considering alternative explanations allows his students to take part in the content research and create their own knowledge pathways by applying prior knowledge (correcting errors) and organizing it with new information (providing alternate solutions). These touchstones help students to become self-directed learners (Lovett et. al. 2023).

Future Plans: Incorporating AI

More recently, Coleman has experimented with ways to use this activity with Generative AI software, like Microsoft Copilot or ChatGPT. Coleman noticed that these tools do not solve process or formula questions very well and make several errors during the application, analysis, and evaluation of the tax problem to provide an appropriate solution. He allows students the opportunity to correct the system for extra credit. Students input Coleman’s quiz questions, read the generated response, and, if the answer is incorrect, explain why. He also encourages students to provide the tool with additional information to help it provide a better answer. He also notes that, “after talking with professionals, this skill is highly desirable in the workplace.”

Coleman’s work is just one example of the great teaching occurring at our university. To discuss how to incorporate this and other simple and effective active learning activities in your courses, reach out to the CITL to set up a consultation (citl@iu.edu). We can also help with course design, classroom climate, GenAI assignments, and many other pedagogical practices!

Further Research

Coleman will be discussing his work in a presentation titled, “Does Finding Tax Errors for Bonus Points Result in Improved Exam Outcomes for Finance Students?” at the International Society of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning’s 2024 Conference hosted by Indiana University Bloomington in French Lick, IN. You can also reach out to Fred directly at fcolema@iu.edu for more information.

For more reading about Active Learning (including discipline specific research), click over to the CITL’s Active Learning webpage.

Citation

Lovett, M. et. al. (2023). How learning works: Eight research-based principles for smart teaching. Hoboken, NJ: Jossey-Bass.