The effect of relevance strategies on student perceptions of introductory courses

The purpose of this study was to test whether increasing the relevancy of course assignments in a large multisection introductory public-speaking course would lead to improvements in student perceptions of course outcomes. Survey responses from 1,878 students were analyzed to test whether differences exist between students enrolled in classes held during the spring 2015 semester and those enrolled in classes held in fall 2015 during which the more relevant course assignments were incorporated. Results reveal that increasing the relevancy of assignments is associated with greater perceived course relevance, motivation for participating in the class, and perceptions of learning. This course redesign demonstrates that simply altering course assignments can positively impact student perceptions and motivation for participating in the class in multisection introductory courses.