Assessment of the Century Model Web Interface in Undergraduate Education to Improve Decision-making and Learning

In this study, an assessment of a web-based interface tool used to enhance student learning and decision-making is described. The web-based interface tool links to the UNIX version of the carbon sequestration crop management Century Model. This model processes soil texture, crop, climate, tillage and several other parameters to assess carbon accumulation over a thousand year period. The tool was tested in five courses at Purdue University involving approximately 250 science and engineering undergraduate students. The students were administered a pretest, lecture, and either a single-field (small scale) or multi-field (large scale) scenario as a homework assignment using the web-based modeling tool, a posttest, and a written student evaluation. Results revealed a significant difference among pretest scores for the various courses, and as a result, the pretest score served as a covariate in the statistical analysis. No significant differences were detected between the single-field and multi-field scenario assignments, student gender or urban vs. rural background. However, student scores elevated from pretest to posttest after completing the multi-field scenario assignment. Additionally, females and students from a rural background scored higher on the pretest and posttest.