Using a Quasi-Experimental Design in Combination with Multivariate Analysis to Assess Student Learning

Abstract

College professors have adopted numerous strategies for teaching undergraduates, yet few researchers provide empirical evidence students' learning actually increased because of the instructional innovation. Assessment of pedagogy is frequently subjective and based on comments from students or faculty. Consequently, evaluating the effectiveness of teaching activities on college student learning, in general, and in statistical analysis courses, in particular, is warranted. This study employed a pretestposttest design to measure student learning and then examined the relationship between student demographics, prior knowledge, and course characteristics on knowledge gained in undergraduate statistics. Data derived from 185 students enrolled in six different sections of a statistical analysis course taught over a seven-year period by the same instructor. Multiple regression analyses revealed age, age X gender (interaction effect), major, prior knowledge, examinations, and group projects all had statistically significant effects on how much students learned in the course. The results suggest faculty assess students' prior knowledge at the beginning of the semester and use such data to inform both the content and delivery of statistical analysis. Moreover, before embracing a new pedagogy, faculty should establish empirically that learning is linked to the teaching innovation.

E-Book Based on Local Wisdom to Improve Students’ Numeracy Skill: Is It Effective?

“…Quasiexperiment is a study that provides natural treatment to determine the effect of treatment [21]. Previous study describes the importance of quasi-experimental research in the field of education [22]. This study used a non-equivalent groups design since this study used a pretest and posttest in the experimental and control classes.…”

https://iiste.org/Journals/index.php/JEP/article/view/61354

“…Being a quasi-experimental retrospective observation on students at a proprietary school in South Florida, its external validity, intended as the ability to transfer the results of the investigation to other contexts, is limited (Cor, 2016). Quasiexperimental design is fact, while widely accepted has a recognized limited transferability (Delucchi, 2019). The limitations generated from the common geographical origin of the participants in the study (Miami Dade County, Florida), and by the limited temporal distribution of the study ranging ten quarters from the fourth quarter of the year 2015 to the first quarter of the year 2018.…”