Comparing Assessment Methods in Undergraduate Statistics Courses
| Author(s) | Baxter, Sarah E. | |
| Date Accessioned | 2017-12-08T14:15:00Z | |
| Date Available | 2017-12-08T14:15:00Z | |
| Publication Date | 2017 | |
| SWORD Update | 2017-09-05T16:30:57Z | |
| Abstract | The purpose of this study was to compare undergraduate students’ academic performance and attitudes about statistics in the context of two different types of assessment structures for an introductory statistics course. One assessment structure used in-class quizzes that emphasized computation and procedural fluency as well as vocabulary recognition in three sections during the semester (quiz-based). The other assessment structure used projects that students conducted outside of class and which involved students generating and analyzing their own data for two sections during the semester (project-based). All five sections were assessed using the same midterm and final exam. ☐ Findings show that while students performed similarly on the midterm exam, students in quiz-based sections performed higher, on average, than students in project-based sections on the final exam. There were few significant differences in attitudes, as measured through a quantitative survey, at the end of the semester, with students in project-based sections scoring higher in a few instances. Overall, very few differences or changes in attitudes were found in this study across all groupings. ☐ Results differed by learning environment, according to a post-hoc analysis. Two sections (one each of a project-based and quiz-based assessment) were taught in a hybrid learning environment. Three sections (one project-based and two quiz-based) were taught in a face-to-face environment. Students in a face-to-face environment had higher final exam scores than students in hybrid sections. In addition, students in face-to-face sections tended to have more positive attitudes. Future research should focus on assessment method structure in a common learning environment to remove the complicating factor of learning environment found in this study. In addition, learning environment can be studied separately in terms of how it affects both academic performance and attitudes in statistics. | en_US |
| Advisor | Jansen, Amanda M. | |
| Degree | D.Ed. | |
| Department | University of Delaware, School of Education | |
| Unique Identifier | 1014333195 | |
| URL | http://udspace.udel.edu/handle/19716/21776 | |
| Language | en | |
| Publisher | University of Delaware | en_US |
| URI | https://search.proquest.com/docview/1958951365?accountid=10457 | |
| Keywords | Pure sciences | en_US |
| Keywords | Education | en_US |
| Keywords | Assessment methods | en_US |
| Keywords | Attitudes | en_US |
| Keywords | Learning environment | en_US |
| Keywords | Undergraduate statistics | en_US |
| Title | Comparing Assessment Methods in Undergraduate Statistics Courses | en_US |
| Type | Thesis | en_US |