Even though that was hard work for them, they thought it was valuable. The write-ups, on the other hand, were less highly regarded. For those students, the optional online materials have no benefit. For the more serious students, those materials were quite valuable. A focus group from fall 2000 said they continue to find the course difficult and a lot of work, but their attitudes about the course are much better.
Students feel they are now understanding the concepts.
The students continue to value the work done in Mallard, but they are also reporting now that the report-writing has value. This contrasts sharply with the earlier findings.