Level Up Before the Semester: The Power of Brush Up Courses

It often happens that there is a broad variation in the skills and knowledge of students within a course. This can be a result of various educational backgrounds, but can also be related to their affinity with the topic of the course. The diversity creates challenges for both the students and the teachers. On the one hand, students can feel uncomfortable because they are lacking the necessary skills to follow lectures and materials. On the other hand, teachers may have a hard time maintaining attention in class and keeping a safe and comfortable learning environment for all students without losing the initial course objective out of sight. 

What are Brush Up Courses?

One method to allow for effective participation of all students, is the use of Brush Up Courses or Modules (also: remedial course, refresh course, prerequisite course). These courses or modules are autonomous and designed to cover the prerequisites of the course. The structure of Brush Up Courses allows students to quickly measure their skills and, if necessary, improve their knowledge before the start of the lecture or course. This gives students the opportunity to comfortably (and confidently!) engage in the course, and maximizes the value of their participation in the lectures and/or seminars.

Benefits of Brush Up Courses:

• Students gain insights in their level of prerequisite skills
• Students can autonomously improve their skills prior to lectures or other course activities
• Classes have a more equal level of skill at the start of the course (activity)
• Teachers can focus on the objectives of their course rather than on the underlying basic concepts
• Teachers know the level of prerequisite skills of students which allows them to more specifically address basic skills that are relevant to the entire class 
  
  

Brush Up Courses in Grasple

Within Grasple, there are multiple functionalities that allow optimizing the set up of Brush Up Courses. The following three use cases are the best practices we often see within the platform:

1. An optional Brush Up Course prior to the start of the course, designed with an entrance test and practice modules
   • Students have the option to check the level of their skills via the diagnostic assessment
   • Students can improve their skills with the practice modules
   • Often seen with:
     • First year students in mathematics (revision of high school math before calculus e.g.)
     • A course that builds upon the skills of a prior course (e.g. statistics 2 building up on statistics 1)
2. A required Brush Up Course prior to the start of the course, designed with a mandatory diagnostic assessment and practice modules:
   • Students have to achieve a certain percentage on the diagnostic assessment to be able to take part in the course (unlimited attempts)
   • Students can improve their skills by doing the practice modules
   • Commonly used for: electives where students from a broad range of majors can apply to
3. Brush Up Modules throughout the course, designed with pre-lecture practice modules:
   • Students can improve upon their basic skills prior to the lecture
   • Divides the work in smaller pieces and makes sure the material is directly relevant
   • Used for: courses where a diverse set of skills is necessary per lecture

Read more about a course with brush up modules in the ITU Customer Story.

Keeping Students and Teachers in Control

At Grasple we believe that teachers should be in complete control of their courses and exercises, therefore we offer a lot of personalisation and customization options for all of our existing and new materials

Teachers can choose and determine what elements they want to keep and add to their Brush Up Course. Due to the advanced features of Grasple, teachers are enabled to leave specific feedback or give similar exercises to students that they failed previously. Grasple's advanced features enable teachers to give their students specific feedback and let them practice in an adaptive way using similar and parameterization.  Additionally diagnostic assessments in the form of self tests or multi-module assessments help in making education easier.

Grasple’s powerful and insightful learning analytics enable teachers to observe the progress and results of students. Already after students take the first entrance test or during completing exercises teachers can derive conclusions for the further continuation of the course.

Conclusion

Brush Up Courses are a great tool to bridge knowledge gaps amongst your students before and / or during your course. They help students become more comfortable and confident by making sure they have the necessary prerequisites for their chosen tracks. For teachers, Brush Up Courses mean they can focus on course content without being distracted by the varying levels of student preparedness. Additionally, they provide insights into areas where students might need a little extra in-class attention.

For teachers considering using Grasple to set up their own Brush Up Course we advise to take a look at the extensive collection of OER that provide a strong foundation for the content of any of your courses. Additionally, Grasple’s user-friendly interface, diagnostic assessments, and powerful analytics make it easy to create, practice, and evaluate exercises.

The set up of the course, including the customization to individual needs, can be done in full cooperation with our support team and finalized within only a week! By using Grasple, teachers can ensure that their students are well-prepared and confident to receive quality education from day one. 

Explore Grasple to enhance your teaching and provide your students with the best possible start! Start a Free Teacher Account today, or reach out to us at hello@grasple.com and we will be more than happy to assist you with any questions you may have!