Enhancing Table Interpretation Skills via Training in Table Creation

Abstract

Quantitative and statistical literacy are core domains in the undergraduate psychology curriculum. An important component of such literacy includes interpretation of visual aids, such as tables containing results from statistical analyses. This article presents a new technique for enhancing student interpretation of American Psychological Association-formatted tables. Undergraduate students exposed to the technique performed better than students not exposed on a measure of table interpretation. An active learning experience in which students learn how to create tables can enhance student ability to interpret tables presented in empirical psychological literature.

Does Training in Table Creation Enhance Table Interpretation? A Quasi-Experimental Study With Follow-Up

“…To expand on these analyses, we used a meta-analytic technique described by Rosenthal and Rosnow (2008) to compare the effect sizes obtained in the present study with those from the original Karazsia (2013) study. As described by Rosenthal and Rosnow, two effect sizes can be compared via a z test after they are transformed into Fischer z scores.…”

“…We used four assessments to evaluate how students interpreted APA-formatted tables. The two primary assessments from the initial evaluation (see Karazsia, 2013) assessed student interpretation skills of a table presenting demographic information and a correlation matrix. We developed two new assessments for the longitudinal follow-up.…”

“…At the undergraduate level, quantitative and statistical literacy are core learning domains (e.g., Dunn et al, 2010), of which one important component includes accurate interpretation of visual aids (American Psychological Association [APA], 2007). Recently, a new learning technique designed to enhance student ability to interpret tables by training students how to create tables was developed and evaluated empirically (Karazsia, 2013). The purpose of the present study was to evaluate this method with a more rigorous design with longitudinal follow-up.…”

“…In an effort to enhance the table-interpretation ability of undergraduate students, Karazsia (2013) introduced a new learning technique to his students. The idea for this technique stemmed from observations of student difficulty interpreting tables in advanced psychology courses, where reading empirical literature is required.…”

“…As reported by Karazsia (2013), students created their own unique APA-formatted tables as a homework assignment. Students exposed to the new learning technique performed better on an assessment of table interpretation ability than students not exposed to the technique.…”