Mastering - DSM problems and fixes

[Zellmer, Robert]

As most of you know, the Dynamic Study Modules which were copied over from my Au20 course
to Sp21 have not been working.  The DSMs are actually always available by default in MC.
It turns out Pearson made changes to these and when they did the old ones would no longer work.
It only took about a week to get this figured out.

They now have DSMs by Topic and by Chapter.  The ones I've been using are by topic, which
means I can split them up better as we're going along.  The ones which are by chapter would
have to come at the end of each chapter or perhaps before the midterm to use as a review.
The questions used in the two types are pretty much the same.

I have to remake and repost them.  I've done this for up to ch 14 so far, using the topical DSMs.
The Chapter DSMs are available even w/o me assigning them (all DSMs are).  The two from
the first week are there and still available.  If you've used DSMs before you won't need the Intro
one but you might still want to do the math one.

The DSMs are NOT for credit and just for practice.  The questions tend to be a more basic level
and often are much easier than the end-of-chapter problems. The are always randomized.  You
should not base your assessment of how well you know the material on these.  The EOC,
MC Tutorials and Homework Review sets are more difficult and require a deeper understanding.
They are more indicative of what you'll see on quizzes and exams.

Speaking to the Pearson rep this morning about the problems in the DSMs he stated they are
set up like this on purpose, with more basic questions.  They're there to help if you're really
struggling.  Some people use them for credit just to see if someone has read the book and done
at least a few problems.

Honestly, if you're reading as we're going along, doing EOC exercises and the Mastering which
is for credit as part of your review before quizzes and you can do these on your own in a reasonably
quick manner you should be okay.  Sometimes students will remark they want extra problems to
work on and ask if they should do the DSMs.  You could.  Remember, you have lots of extra
problems to work on.  There are generally over 100 EOC exercises.  Unless you can tell me you've
done every last one of them it means you have more for practice.  Plus, there's the Give it Some
Thought, Go Figure, Self Review/Assessment questions and Sample Exercises (and the two Practice
Exercises which follow) in the reading before you even try the EOC or MC questions.  If you've
done all this and can eventually answer questions on your own I think you're doing fine and probably
don't really need the DSMs.  There's so much you all have to do as it is.

So with all of what's available you may not need to do the DSMs in Mastering.  They will be there if
you need them.  If you do the ones I've put in your calendar on Mastering and then try one of the
chapter DSMs let me know which you prefer.

I just noticed when I opened a DSM a message "On Sat., Jan 23, DSMs will be enhancing our
application and performing system maintenance between 7 AM and 9 AM".  That means I could be
starting all over again.

Dr. Zellmer
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.osu.edu/pipermail/cbc-chem1220/attachments/20210120/a9d2a27f/attachment.html>