MS 150 Statistics as a course is more than an
outline and I would hope that no instructor anywhere in the system
would only be given the outline and asked to teach the course. The
course includes on line resources such as syllabi going back to 2000,
and a textbook.
Instructors who teach MS 150 will also have to determine a manner of
assessment for the course - reporting into the same five course level
outcomes into which I report. I view decisions on the specific
mechanism of formative assessment to be best left up to the individual
instructor. I feel it would be overly prescriptive and curtail academic
freedom and syllabus design choices to force my item-analysis
aggregation approach on other faculty.
Every Friday there is a quiz or test, and each weekend I item analyze
the current quiz or test. This results for this past Friday were:
| Q | Description | l | Outref | SLO | Corr | Corr% |
| 1 | direct variation calculation | 1 | 1 | Calculate basic statistics | 24 | 53% |
| 2 | linear, non-linear, or random | 5 | 5 | Perform a linear regression and make inferences based on the results | 26 | 58% |
| 3 | slope | 5 | 5 | Perform a linear regression and make inferences based on the results | 43 | 96% |
| 4 | intercept | 5 | 5 | Perform a linear regression and make inferences based on the results | 42 | 93% |
| 5 | correlation r | 5 | 5 | Perform a linear regression and make inferences based on the results | 45 | 100% |
| 6 | positive or negative relation | 5 | 5 | Perform a linear regression and make inferences based on the results | 44 | 98% |
| 7 | strength of relationship | 5 | 5 | Perform a linear regression and make inferences based on the results | 34 | 76% |
| 8 | coefficient of determination | 5 | 5 | Perform a linear regression and make inferences based on the results | 42 | 93% |
| 9 | perc var x that explains var y | 5 | 5 | Perform a linear regression and make inferences based on the results | 13 | 29% |
| 10 | predict y given x | 5 | 5 | Perform a linear regression and make inferences based on the results | 28 | 62% |
| 11 | predict x given y | 5 | 5 | Perform a linear regression and make inferences based on the results | 26 | 58% |
From the above data I gain insight into what
has been learned and what has not. Note that the percentage is the
percentage of students answering that item correctly. So every single
student can calculate the correlation r - a phenomenal result.
Of interest is also that while 62% of the students can predict a y
value given an x value (using the slope and intercept they calculated
in 3 and 4 above), when asked how much fifty feet of wire at 15 cents a
foot would cost, only 53% answered this correctly. As this would seem
to be a precursor skill to number ten, this lower result for number one
would seem to a a puzzle. I attribute it to the "extinction of
knowledge" effect - I have not been teaching this specific precursor
skill, so it is a) surprisingly forgotten and b) not all that strongly
impacting current skills. As much as mathematics instructors might want
their students to not memorize solution processes but rather to work
things out from the rules of mathematics, our students will still fall
back on sheer memorization.
Based on the above, I will work with the students on Monday to run
another linear regression, with a special focus on the meaning of the
coefficient of determination as performance was weak on interpreting
the coefficient of determination (29%).
Aggregating the above plus prior quiz and test results yields a report
on the accomplishment of course learning outcomes as of then end of
week four:
| Outref | Students will be able to: | Sum | Count | Avg |
| 1 | Calculate basic statistics | 20.51 | 37 | 55% |
| 2 | Represent data sets using charts and histograms | 2.96 | 8 | 37% |
| 3 | Solve problems using normal curve and t-statistic distributions including confidence intervals for means and hypothesis testing | 0 | 0 | 0% |
| 4 | Determine and interpret p-values | 0 | 0 | 0% |
| 5 | Perform a linear regression and make inferences based on the results | 8.07 | 15 | 54% |
| PSLO | define mathematical concepts, calculate quantities, estimate solutions, solve problems, represent and interpret mathematical information graphically, and communicate mathematical thoughts and ideas. | 29.26% |
Outcomes three and four are not covered until close to and after the
midterm, there is precursor material to introducing the normal curve
between now and the midterm. Histograms and charts will be covered
again at midterm and on the final, so there is room for that metric to
improve as well.