Last fall, we conducted a focus group with students at Glendale Community College on Navigate 2 Advantage Access for Fundamentals of Microbiology, Tenth Edition, based on the classic undergraduate microbiology text by Jeffrey C. Pommerville. During the focus group, students received a product demonstration of Navigate 2 Advantage Access, including a comprehensive and interactive eBook, assessments, and practice activities. After the demonstration, students completed a survey on their initial reactions, carried out a set of tasks, and provided their feedback on the Navigate 2 user experience as a whole from the student perspective. Read the complete case study now.
Students were asked to rate the Study Center, eBook, and Assessments on a scale from 1-10, with 1 indicating a very weak feature and 10 indicating a very strong feature. Each received ratings above 9. After a user experience, student ratings remained stable, indicating an overall positive experience with the product. In addition, students provided testimonials that reinforce this finding that Navigate 2 is both beneficial and easy to use. Furthermore they agreed that Navigate 2 was well-organized, user-friendly, and helped them study more efficiently.
“Navigate 2 appears to be well organized, easy to use, and contains an eBook! My current online program doesn’t provide an eBook and it is very disappointing. The assessments and study center seem extremely beneficial as well.”
“The organization involving the assessments and study center are outstanding.”
“Navigate 2 is easy to use and I think it would help to improve an overall class grade because the study materials and learning tools would help to gain a better understanding of what is being taught in class.”
“I like the user-friendly style.”
“[The features of Navigate 2] are an effective way to boost study time and help the student remember the material for the long run.”
After their experience using Navigate 2:
- 100% agreed that if they had Navigate 2 resources available to them they would use them while studying
- 91% agreed that Navigate 2 would help them learn
- 90% agreed that the activities would help them study more efficiently
Navigate 2 eBook Helps Students Learn More Effectively
100% of students agreed that the interactive eBook within Navigate 2 would help them study. What’s more, they found the enhanced features, such as highlighting, notes, and animations, especially useful.
“[Navigate 2] saves time and is easy to use anywhere.”
“I am able to highlight what I think is important.”
“The animations, glossary in text, and other resources will help me study and retain more information while making it easier to read the textbook.”
“[Navigate 2] allows me to interact with more assignments.”
“I like to have additional information while studying because repetition helps me study.”
Navigate 2 Assessments and Practice Activities Earn High Marks
The majority of students said that the Navigate 2 assessments helped them gauge their understanding of the material. Moreover, the focus group found that 100% of students believed that the assessments would help them learn and study more efficiently.
“The [Navigate 2] assessments are very good for gauging how well I understand the material.”
“[I was impressed by] the ease of use within the discussion questions.”
“[The Navigate 2 assessments are] easy to use.”
“When I finish studying a chapter, I can test myself.”
“Having quizzes and the discussion forum would help me see where I am in the class and if I need to work harder.”
“I liked that there are discussion forums that I can reply to; students can help each other and ask the professor as well.”
In addition, more than 90% of students said that the Navigate 2 practice activities would help them learn and study more successfully. Students especially found the flashcards helpful as a study tool.
“[Navigate 2 practice activities] help to provide a better understanding of the material. I can see what I answered incorrectly and learn from it.”
“I like the different variety of activities I could use to study.”
“It’s great to have all those practice activities at your fingertips.”
“I really enjoyed using the flashcards. I liked how they showed me my answer and the correct answer.”
“I liked the discussion questions because these activities would help me check my understanding of the material.”
“[Navigate 2 practice activities] helps with my memory by repeating the vocabulary.”
“The flashcards are great!”
Since each student learns and studies differently, Navigate 2 engages all learning styles with a wide-range of interactive activities. As a result of their experience using Navigate 2 Advantage Access for Fundamentals of Microbiology, Tenth Edition, the students in the focus group felt that the variety of practice activities and learning tools would benefit them in their studies and improve their overall learning experience. In particular, the students found the flashcards in the Study Center and the practice activities within the interactive eBook to be most beneficial. For more information, visit our website.