COMPARING STUDENT SUCCESS AND UNDERSTANDING IN INTRODUCTORY STATISTICS UNDER CONSENSUS AND SIMULATION-BASED CURRICULA

Abstract

This study examines the transferability of results from previous studies of simulation-based curriculum in introductory statistics using data from 3,500 students enrolled in an introductory statistics course at Montana State University from fall 2013 through spring 2016. During this time, four different curricula, a traditional curriculum and three simulation-based curricula, were used. Student success rates and understanding of six key statistical concepts are compared among these curricula using mixed logistic regression. Results indicate that after controlling for salient covariates, differences in student success rates are minimal while student understanding under the simulation-based curricula are similar to or better than student understanding under the traditional curriculum suggesting simulation-based curricula may help increase student understanding of several key statistical concepts.

First published May 2018 at Statistics Education Research Journal Archives