Influence of Prior Mathematics Skills Assessments on Success and Improvement in Introductory Statistics Courses

Abstract

With the growth in access to data and the need for statistical knowledge in careers and every-day life, introductory statistics courses are an increasingly important interaction for undergraduate students. These courses can be some students only experience with the subject or may discourage some students from progressing in other STEM disciplines. One aspect of success in introductory level statistics courses is the mathematical readiness or prior knowledge of students. Previous studies have proposed and tested short standardized assessments for students to gauge readiness at the start of a course (Johnson and Kuennen, 2006). At Texas A&M University, the Department of Mathematics already developed and uses a pre-enrollment assessment to determine readiness for collegiate mathematics courses. I examined whether this pre-enrollment assessment could be utilized to measure mathematical readiness for introductory level statistics courses. This research project occurred over three studies. The first study involved retrospective grade data for students enrolled in four of the introductory courses offered through the Department of Statistics as well as MPE scores, other standardized exam scores, and demographic information. This information was used to investigate the predictive power that MPE has on student success in the courses as represented by whether or not the student received a “passing” final grade. The second study investigated the questions and analyses from the first study in ways that were not available during the first study. This will include a survey on statistical anxiety, a standardized math skills quiz, and some other background information. This study will allow for a comparison between the pre-enrollment assessment and an established math readiness assessment and will lead to the development of a method to identify at-risk students. Finally, the last study will entail using the predictive model established in the second study to investigate the efficacy of the various educational interventions afforded to students enrolled in statistics courses.