scholarly journals Assessing Instructional Effectiveness and Understanding Factors that Contribute to Student Performance in an Engineering Statistics Course: An Exploratory Study

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Burns ◽  
Enas Aref ◽  
Mohammad Majd
Keyword(s):  
Student Performance ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Instructional Effectiveness ◽  
Engineering Statistics ◽  
Statistics Course

The Relationship between Item Context Characteristics and Student Performance: The Case of the 2006 and 2009 PISA Science Items

2015 ◽  
Vol 117 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-36
Author(s):  
Maria Araceli Ruiz-Primo ◽  
Min Li
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Student Performance ◽  
Research Design ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Test Design ◽  
Test Items ◽  
Pisa 2006 ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Context Characteristics ◽  
Key Questions

Background A long-standing premise in test design is that contextualizing test items makes them concrete, less demanding, and more conducive to determining whether students can apply or transfer their knowledge. Purpose We assert that despite decades of study and experience, much remains to be learned about how to construct effective and fair test items with contexts. Too little is known about how item contexts can be appropriately constructed and used, and even less about the relationship between context characteristics and student performance. The exploratory study presented in this paper seeks to contribute to knowledge about test design and construction by focusing on this gap. Research Design We address two key questions: (a) What are the characteristics of contexts used in the PISA science items? and (b) What are the relationships between different context characteristics and student performance? We propose a profiling approach to capture information about six context dimensions: type of context, context role, complexity, resources, level of abstraction, and connectivity. To test the approach empirically we sampled a total of 52 science items from PISA 2006 and 2009. We describe the context characteristics of the items at two levels (named layers): general (testlet context) and specific (item context). Conclusion We provide empirical evidence about the relationships of these characteristics with student performance as measured by the international percentage of correct responses. We found that the dimension of context resources (e.g., pictures, drawings, photographs) for general contexts and level of abstractness for specific contexts are associated with student performance.

scholarly journals model for teaching basic engineering statistics in Slovenia

2006 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreja Drobnič Vidic
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Alternative Assessment ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Problem Based Learning ◽  
Problem Solving Skills ◽  
Professional Careers ◽  
Engineering Statistics ◽  
Statistics Course ◽  
Main Factors ◽  
University Curricula

Statistics contents are commonly included in university curricula. Slovenian students in general have a lack of problem solving and application knowledge in mathematics and basic statistics. Moreover, engineering students have a lack of teamwork skills, needed in their professional careers. In order to reduce these shortcomings we designed a model for teaching basic statistics to engineering students. The problem-based learning (PBL) approach served as the basis for this model. We adapted it to the requirements of a basic engineering statistics course and to the environment of a Slovenian university. Four main factors of the model are described in detail: Problems, which enable the development of problem solving skills and application of knowledge; PBL teachers, who need to change their roles and activities in the instruction; aims of the students, and the alternative assessment. The article also makes reference to a pedagogical experiment, in which we verified this model.

Data-Based Program Modification: A Continuous Evaluation System with Computer Software to Facilitate Implementation

1983 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 50-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lynn S. Fuchs ◽  
Stanley L. Deno ◽  
Phyllis K. Mirkin
Keyword(s):  
Student Performance ◽  
Software Package ◽  
Evaluation System ◽  
Computer Software ◽  
Instructional Effectiveness ◽  
Technical Adequacy ◽  
Continuous Evaluation ◽  
System Data ◽  
Student Performance Data

This paper provides a rationale for and describes a continuous evaluation system, data-based program modification (DBPM), which has demonstrated technical adequacy, logistical feasibility, and instructional effectiveness. Additionally, the paper illustrates the use of DBPM with a case study, and then describes the DBPM software package that stores, summarizes, analyzes, and displays a graph of student performance data.

Complexity of Illustrations in PISA-2009 Science Items and Its Relationship to the Performance of Students from Shanghai-China, the United States, and Mexico

2015 ◽  
Vol 117 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Guillermo Solano-Flores ◽  
Chao Wang
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Student Performance ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Item Difficulty ◽  
Secondary Analysis ◽  
The United States ◽  
Analysis Study ◽  
Science Tests ◽  
Different Types ◽  
The U.S

Background While illustrations are widely used in international test comparisons, very scant research has been conducted on their design and on their influence on student performance. It is not clear how the features of illustration act in combination supporting students’ access to the content of items or increasing their interpretation demands. Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine how the characteristics of illustrations used in science items are related to the performance of students in PISA-2009. Population We used PISA-2009 data on the responses of 1571 to 1582, 1601 to 1617, and 11,662 to 11,746 students, respectively from Shanghai-China, the U.S., and Mexico. Research Design This was a secondary analysis study that compared the three PISA-2009 jurisdictions as to the magnitudes and directions of the correlations between the complexity of illustrations used in science items and the difficulty of those items. We used the information on item difficulty provided by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD, 2010). The features of the illustrations were coded with a system that coded the presence or absence of about 100 types of illustration features. The complexity of each illustration was computed as the number of different types of features observed. Findings For the U.S. and Mexico, items with higher illustration complexities were more difficult than items with lower illustration complexities. For Shanghai-China, the correlation of number of illustration features and item difficulty was close to zero. This pattern of correlations is consistent with the three jurisdictions’ ranking in PISA-2009. Conclusions While this was an exploratory study that examined the performance of only three of the 65 PISA-2009 jurisdictions, the results speak to the importance of examining illustration complexity as a factor that shapes student performance in science tests and which should be addressed systematically in the design of science items.

Complexity of Illustrations in PISA-2009 Science Items and Its Relationship to the Performance of Students from Shanghai-China, the United States, and Mexico

2015 ◽  
Vol 117 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Guillermo Solano-Flores ◽  
Chao Wang
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Student Performance ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Item Difficulty ◽  
Secondary Analysis ◽  
The United States ◽  
Analysis Study ◽  
Science Tests ◽  
Different Types ◽  
The U.S

Background While illustrations are widely used in international test comparisons, very scant research has been conducted on their design and on their influence on student performance. It is not clear how the features of illustration act in combination supporting students’ access to the content of items or increasing their interpretation demands. Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine how the characteristics of illustrations used in science items are related to the performance of students in PISA-2009. Population We used PISA-2009 data on the responses of 1571 to 1582, 1601 to 1617, and 11,662 to 11,746 students, respectively from Shanghai-China, the U.S., and Mexico. Research Design This was a secondary analysis study that compared the three PISA-2009 jurisdictions as to the magnitudes and directions of the correlations between the complexity of illustrations used in science items and the difficulty of those items. We used the information on item difficulty provided by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD, 2010). The features of the illustrations were coded with a system that coded the presence or absence of about 100 types of illustration features. The complexity of each illustration was computed as the number of different types of features observed. Findings For the U.S. and Mexico, items with higher illustration complexities were more difficult than items with lower illustration complexities. For Shanghai-China, the correlation of number of illustration features and item difficulty was close to zero. This pattern of correlations is consistent with the three jurisdictions’ ranking in PISA-2009. Conclusions While this was an exploratory study that examined the performance of only three of the 65 PISA-2009 jurisdictions, the results speak to the importance of examining illustration complexity as a factor that shapes student performance in science tests and which should be addressed systematically in the design of science items.

Effects of an Interteaching Probe on Learning and Generalization of American Psychological Association (APA) Style

2017 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 150-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan M. Slezak ◽  
Caitlin Faas
Keyword(s):  
Student Performance ◽  
American Psychological Association ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Research Report ◽  
Average Increase ◽  
American Psychological ◽  
Traditional Lecture ◽  
Statistics Course ◽  
Undergraduate University Students ◽  
Initial Intervention

This study implemented the components of interteaching as a probe to teach American Psychological Association (APA) Style to undergraduate university students in a psychology research methods and statistics course. The interteaching method was compared to the traditional lecture-based approach between two sections of the course with the same instructor. Both teaching strategies significantly increased student performance on the APA Style knowledge relative to pretest performance, with a greater average increase and larger effect size for students exposed to interteaching methods. However, 2 months after the initial intervention, the application of APA Style knowledge to a draft of a research report resulted in no significant differences. Future research is warranted to determine conditions that result in enhanced generalization and retention of APA Style knowledge.

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