Student Achievement in Undergraduate Statistics: The Value of Encouraging Failure

Main Article Content

Joseph A Ferrandino

Abstract

This article details what resulted when I re-designed my undergraduate statistics course to allow failure as a learning strategy and focused on achievement rather than performance. A variety of within and between class t-tests are utilized to determine the impact of unlimited test and quiz opportunities on student learning on both quizzes and subsequent assignments in two undergraduate statistics courses (one a 15-week hybrid and one a 6-week online course). The results show that the previous DFW rate was reduced, and no significant difference in outcomes was found between the two different course modalities. Furthermore, students achieved significantly higher on their last quiz and test attempts on every instrument in both semesters, with large effect sizes. Corresponding assignments showed students achieved significantly higher than the mean first attempt, but significantly lower than final mean quiz attempt scores, showing that some knowledge was not carried over to application. The article concludes by evaluating the results of unlimited testing with minimum standards and the limitations of the study and the pedagogical model.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Article Details

How to Cite
Ferrandino, J. A. (2016). Student Achievement in Undergraduate Statistics: The Value of Encouraging Failure. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 16(6), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.14434/josotl.v16i6.20261
Section
Articles
Author Biography

Joseph A Ferrandino, Indiana University Northwest

Associate Professor of Criminal Justice in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA) at Indiana University Northwest

References

ACT (2012). The Condition of College and Career Readiness National Report. Found online at http://www.act.org/newsroom/data/2012/pdf/CCCR12-NationalReadinessRpt.pdf.

Adams, W.C., D.L. Infeld & C.M. Wulff (2013). Statistical software for curriculum and careers. Journal of Public Affairs Education. 19(1), 173-188.

American Heritage College Dictionary (2002). 4th Ed. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt: Boston, MA.

Al-Atabi, M. (2014). Think like an engineer: Use systematic thinking to solve everyday challenges & unlock the inherent values in them. Creative Commons. As cited by Mushtak AlAtabi in a blog post titled “Return on Failure: Why I encourage my students to fail (and reward them for that)” on September 26, 2014 found online at: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140926152625-39413468-return-on-failure-why-i-encouragemy-students-to-fail.

Bushway, S.D. & S.M. Flower (2002). Helping criminal justice students learn statistics: A quasiexperimental evaluation of learning assistance. Journal of Criminal Justice Education. 13(1), 35-56.

Capshew, T.F. (2005). Motivating social work students in statistics courses. Social Work Education. 24(8), 857-868.

Chermak, S. & A. Weiss (1999). Activity-based learning of statistics: Using practical applications to improve students' learning. Journal of Criminal Justice Education. 10(2), 361372.

Connors, F.A., S.M. Mccown & B. Roskos-Ewoldsen (1998). Unique challenges in teaching undergraduate statistics. Teaching of Psychology. 25(1), 40-42.

Cull, W.L. (2000). Untangling the Benefits of Multiple Study Opportunities and Repeated Testing for Cued Recall. Applied Cognitive Psychology. 14, 215-235.

Curran, E., K. Carlson & D.T. Celotta (2013). Changing attitudes and facilitating understanding in the undergraduate statistics classroom: A collaborative learning approach. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. 13(2), 49-71.

Delucchi, M. (2007). Assessing the impact of group projects on examination performance in social statistics. Teaching in Higher Education. 12(4), 447-460.

Dunn, P.K., A. Richardson, C. McDonald & F. Oprescu (2012). Instructor perceptions of using mobile-phone-based free classroom response system in first-year statistics undergraduate courses. International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science & Technology. 43(8), 1041-1056.

Elliott, W., E. Choi & T. Friedline (2013). Online statistics labs in MSW research methods courses: Reducing reluctance toward statistics. Journal of Social Work Education. 49(1), 81-95.

Forte, J.A. (1995). Teaching statistics without sadistics. Journal of Social Work Education. 31(2), 204-218.

Frantzen, D. (2014). Is technology a one-size-fits-all solution to improving student performance? A comparison of online, hybrid, and face-to-face courses. Journal of Public Affairs Education. 20(4), 565-578.

Grossman, D. (2014). Secret Google lab 'rewards staff for failure. BBC News (January 24, 2014). Found online at http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-25880738.

Gunyou, J. (2015). I flipped my classroom: One teacher’s quest to remain relevant. Journal of Public Affairs Education. 21(1), 13-24.

Hindlis, R. & S. Hronova (2015). Are we able to pass the mission of statistics to students? Teaching Statistics. 37(2), 61-65.

Karpicke, J.D. & H.L. Roediger (2007). Repeated retrieval during learning is the key to long-term retention. Journal of Memory and Language. 57, 151-162.

Karpicke, J.D. & H.L. Roediger (2008). The Critical Importance of Retrieval for Learning. Science. 319, 966-968.

Kapur, M. (2015). Learning from productive failure. Learning: Research and Practice. 1(1), 5865.

Leong, K.C. (2013). “Google Reveals its 9 Principles of Innovation.” (November 20, 2013). Available online at https://www.fastcompany.com/3021956/how-to-be-a-success-ateverything/googles-nine-principles-of-innovation.

McDaniel, M.A., P.K. Agarwal, B.J. Huelser, K.B. McDermott & H.L. Roediger (2011). TestEnhanced Learning in a Middle School Science Classroom: The Effects of Quiz Frequency and Placement. Journal of Educational Psychology. 103, 399-414.

Pan, W & M. Tang (2005). Students' perceptions on factors of statistics anxiety and instructional strategies. Journal of Instructional Psychology. 32(3), 205-214.

Proctor, J.L. (2002). SPSS vs. Excel: Computing software, criminal justice students and statistics. Journal of Criminal Justice Education. 13(2), 433-442.

Proctor, J.L. (2006). Academic achievement and statistical knowledge: A comparison of criminal justice and noncriminal justice majors. Journal of Criminal Justice Education. 17(1), 143-161.

Rawson, K.A. & J. Dunlosky (2012). When Is Practice Testing Most Effective for Improving the Durability and Efficiency of Student Learning? Educational Psychology Review. 24, 419435.

Roediger, H.L. & J.D. Karpicke (2006a). Test-Enhanced Learning: Taking Memory Tests Improves Long-Term Retention. Psychological Science. 17(3), 249-255.

Roediger, H.L. & J.D. Karpicke (2006b). The Power of Testing Memory: Basic Research and Implications for Educational Practice. Perspectives on Psychological Science. 1(3), 181-210.

Rowling, J.K. (2008). Commencement Speech to the Harvard Class of 2008. Published by the Harvard Gazette on June 5, 2008 and found online at http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2008/06/text-of-j-k-rowling-speech/

Shellenbarger, S. (2011). “Better ideas through failure: Companies reward employee mistakes to spur innovation, get back their edge”. The Wall Street Journal, September 27, 2011. Found online at http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970204010604576594671572584158

Sparzo, F.J., C.M. Bennett & R.A. Rohm (1986). College student performance under repeated testing and cumulative testing conditions: Report on five studies. The Journal of Educational Research. 80(2), 99-104.

Stickels, J.W. & R.R. Dobbs (2007). Helping Alleviate Statistical Anxiety with Computer Aided Statistical Classes. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. 7(1), 1-15.

Summers, J.J., A. Waigandt & T.A. Whittaker (2005). A comparison of student achievement and satisfaction in an online versus a traditional face-to-face statistics class. Innovative Higher Education. 29(3), 233-250.