Statistics and Probability Commons^™

The Impact Of Student Performance On Large-Scale Assessments: A View Of Long-Term Health, Career, And Societal Outcomes, Roman Usatin

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This study examined the predictive power of student growth for large-scale assessments on meaningful life outcomes, focusing on the three categories of health, career, and societal involvement. Analysis was conducted using the NELS:88/00 dataset–a longitudinal study that followed a nationally-representative sample of over 12,000 eighth grade students from 1988 to 2000, until the students were 26 years old and entered into the work force. The large-scale assessment variables included math and reading performance in the 1988 cognitive batteries administered by NELS. To gauge growth levels, I generated Student Growth Percentiles (SGP) from tests administered by NELS from 1988 to 1992. …

A Comparison Of Students’ Perceptions Of Stress In Parallel Problem-Based And Lecture-Based Curricula, Sonia Wardley, Brooks Applegate, Deyab Almaleki, James Van Rhee

Research and Creative Activities Poster Day

Introduction

What is stress? Research asserts that stress is the mental state that results from an inability to cope (Burton 2004)

Why focus on stress?

• Persistent stress can lead to serious psychological problems such as interpersonal difficulties, depression, anxiety, and even suicide (Shapiro 2000)
• Several studies have found up to a third of medical students experience stress-related problems

The importance of this study comes from: A review of the extent literature suggests there is no systematic inquiry of the effects of stress experienced by students in LBL and PBL curricula in PA education

Improving The Design Of Cluster-Randomized Trials In Education: Informing The Selection Of Variance Design Parameter Values For Science Achievement Studies, Carl D. Westine

Dissertations

The purpose of this three-essay dissertation is to provide practical guidance to evaluators planning cluster-randomized trials (CRTs) of science achievement. In an educational setting, interventions are often administered at the cluster level, while outcomes are typically measured at the student level through standardized achievement testing. When evaluating an intervention, a CRT is appropriate because it allows for treatment to be modeled at a different level than the unit of analysis, and properly accounts for the violation of independence that occurs due to nesting. Accurately designing a CRT involves estimating variance parameters (i.e., intraclass correlations [ICCs] and percent of variance explained …

Media Portrayal Of Individuals In The Lower Class And Its Effects On Attributions Of Educational Hardships, Krista A. Burke

Communication Studies

This study investigated how media portrayals of individuals in the lower class affect people’s beliefs about educational hardships in lower socioeconomic areas. Specifically, this study looked at the attributions of these hardships to determine if media consumption had an effect on the internality of attributions. It was hypothesized that increased media consumption would be related to an increased tendency toward internal attributions. It was hypothesized that increased media consumption would lead to lower support for policy changes regarding education. A survey was distributed to assess media consumption habits and attitudes toward educational hardships in the lower class. Correlation results yielded …

A National Study Comparing Charter And Traditional Public Schools Using Propensity Score Analysis, Jason M. Bryer

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Unlike their private school counterparts, charter schools receive public funding but are relieved of some of the bureaucratic and regulatory constraints of public schools in exchange for being held accountable for student performance. Studies provide mixed results with regard to charter school performance. Charter schools are, by definition, schools of choice, and this means that observational data methods are required for comparing such schools with others. In observational data contexts, simple comparisons of two groups such as traditional public and charter schools typically ignore the inherent and systematic differences between the two groups. However, given well-designed observational studies and appropriate …

The Predictive Value Of Reading Frequencies In Digital And Print Formats On Eighth Grade English Language Arts Outcomes, Victoria Carol Coyle

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The increased availability of technology in Western culture has resulted in an increased use of technology among adolescents in both academic and personal settings. In the U.S., adolescents use technology to communicate, access information, create and distribute products on a daily basis. More importantly, this increase in technology has resulted in many more reasons and opportunities to read. It is unclear, however if increased reading in these new digital modes are related to increased scores on traditional academic assessments. This study used an archival data set to investigate relationships that existed among self-reported reading frequencies in different modes and contexts …

The Impact Of Nested Testing On Experiment-Wise Type I Error Rate, Jack Sawilowsky

Wayne State University Dissertations

When conducting a statistical test the initial risk that must be considered is a Type I error, also known as a false positive. The Type I error rate is set by nominal alpha, assuming all underlying conditions of the statistic are met. Experiment-wise Type I error inflation occurs when multiple tests are conducted overall for a single experiment. There is a growing trend in the social and behavioral sciences utilizing nested designs. A Monte Carlo study was conducted using a two layer design. Five theoretical distributions and four real datasets taken from Micceri (1989) were used, each with five different …

La Formazione Degli Insegnanti: Una Necessità Non Più Rinviabile, Anna E. Bargagliotti

Mathematics, Statistics and Data Science Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

A Monte Carlo Study: The Consequences Of The Misspecification Of The Level-1 Error Structure, Merlande Petit-Bois

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Single-case interventions allow for the repeated measurement of a case or participant across multiple time points, to assess the treatment¡͞s effect on one specific case or participant. The basic interrupted time series design includes two phases: baseline and treatment. Raudenbush and Byrk (2002) demonstrated that a meta-analysis of large group designs can be seen as a special case of multi-level analysis with participants (level-one) nested within studies (level-two). Raw data from a set of single case design studies have a similar structure. Van den Noortgate and Onghena (2003) illustrated the use of a two-level model to analyze data in primary …

Community College Consortium Promotes Open Educational Practices Through Outreach And Collaboration, Una T. Daly, Lisa Storm, Barbara Illowsky

SJSU Open Access Conference

The Community College Consortium for Open Educational Resources (CCCOER) is a community of practice focused on awareness and promoting best practices for OER discovery and adoption including open textbooks, open MOOCs, and open repositories to enhance learning and teaching. Through monthly outreach webinars with OER leaders and online advisory meetings, the community shares their projects and expertise encouraging collaboration across institutions, disciplines, and higher education sectors. Hear from the consortium director and two leaders of the community college OER movement.

• Una Daly, Director of Community College Outreach, OpenCourseWare Consortium. Building a community to promote awareness and shared knowledge of …

Examining Introductory Students’ Attitudes In A Randomization-Based Curriculum, Joshua Ryan Beemer

Statistics

Student attitudes regarding introductory statistics courses are not always the most positive. The purpose of this research is to utilize the Survey of Attitudes Toward Statistics to evaluate introductory statistics students’ attitudes pre- and post course. Furthermore, comparisons of attitudes within different introductory course curricula across institutions will be made. Various components within the survey, such as difficulty, value, and interest, will be assessed in order to determine where students’ attitudes are affected the most and how they are correlated with other variables such as current GPA and curriculum taught. The outcomes for these models look at demographic predictors that …

Session 2-2-F: Guides To Beating The Spreads In Mlb, Nba And Nfl Games, William S. Mallios, R. R. Mallios

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

This guide provides information and statistics for sports' gambling.

A Data Generating Review That Bops, Twists And Pulls At Misconceptions, Kimberly Gardner

Faculty Articles

Statistics is an integral part of the K-12 mathematics curriculum (age 5-18). Naturally, students construct misconceptions of what they learn. This article discusses The Bop It^© Challenge, a review activity assesses student understanding and reveals their misundertandings of statistical concepts.

A Comparative Study Of Exact Versus Propensity Matching Techniques Using Monte Carlo Simulation, Mukaria J. J. Itang'ata

Dissertations

Often researchers face situations where comparative studies between two or more programs are necessary to make causal inferences for informed policy decision-making. Experimental designs employing randomization provide the strongest evidence for causal inferences. However, many pragmatic and ethical challenges may preclude the use of randomized designs. In such situations, subject matching provides an alternative design approach for conducting causal inference studies. This study examined various design conditions hypothesized to affect matching procedures’ bias recovery ability.

See attachment for full abstract.

“Seeing” The Elephant: Assessing The Impact Of Library-Composition Program Collaboration On First-Year Student Learning, Erin E. Rinto

Library Faculty Presentations

Though university libraries and composition programs have historically collaborative relationships, these partnerships can take a variety of formats, including single course period library sessions, teaching-the-teachers, and librarian-driven assignment models. A hybrid of these collaborative approaches was implemented Fall 2012 at UNLV in an effort to provide first-year composition students with a more systematic information literacy experience in the required ENG 102 course. A two-pronged assessment method was used to evaluate the impact of the collaboration for both first-year student learning as well as to implement programmatic change.

Challenging The State Of The Art In Post-Introductory Statistics: Preparation, Concepts, And Pedagogy, Nathan L. Tintle, Beth Chance, George Cobb, Allan Rossman, Soma Roy, Todd Swanson, Jill Vanderstoep

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

The demands for a statistically literate society are increasing, and the introductory statistics course ("Stat 101") remains the primary venue for learning statistics for the majority of high school and undergraduate students. After three decades of very fruitful activity in the areas of pedagogy and assessment, but with comparatively little pressure for rethinking the content of this course, the statistics education community has recently turned its attention to use of randomization-based methods to illustrate core concepts of statistical inference. This new focus not only presents an opportunity to address documented shortcomings in the standard Stat 101 course (for example, improving …

Descriptive Statistical Attributes Of Special Education Datasets, Valerie Felder

Wayne State University Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Descriptive Statistical Attributes of Special Education Data Sets

by

VALERIE FELDER

December 2013

Advisor: Dr. Shlomo Sawilowsky

Major: Educational Evaluation and Research

Degree: Doctor of Philosophy

Micceri (1989) examined the distributional characteristics of 440 large-sample achievement and psychometric measures. All the distributions were found to be nonnormal at alpha = .01. Micceri indicated three factors that might contribute to a non-Gaussian error distribution in the population. The first factor is subpopulations within a target population. The second factor is ceiling effects and the third factor is treatment effects that may change the location parameter, variability, or shape of the …

Bayesian Estimation Of Panel Data Fractional Response Models With Endogeneity: An Application To Standardized Test Rates, Lawrence Kessler

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this paper I propose Bayesian estimation of a nonlinear panel data model with a fractional dependent variable (bounded between 0 and 1). Specifically, I estimate a panel data fractional probit model which takes into account the bounded nature of the fractional response variable. I outline estimation under the assumption of strict exogeneity as well as when allowing for potential endogeneity. Furthermore, I illustrate how transitioning from the strictly exogenous case to the case of endogeneity only requires slight adjustments. For comparative purposes I also estimate linear specifications of these models and show how quantities of interest such as marginal …

Effectiveness Of Propensity Score Methods In A Multilevel Framework: A Monte Carlo Study, Aarti P. Bellara

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Propensity score analysis has been used to minimize the selection bias in observational studies to identify causal relationships. A propensity score is an estimate of an individual's probability of being placed in a treatment group given a set of covariates. Propensity score analysis aims to use the estimate to create balanced groups, akin to a randomized experiment. This study used Monte Carlo methods to examine the appropriateness of using propensity score methods to achieve balance between groups on observed covariates and reproduce treatment effect estimates in multilevel studies. Specifically, this study examined the extent to which four different propensity score …

The Positive Illusory Bias And Adhd Symptoms: A New Measurement Approach, Sarah A. Fefer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate perceptions of academic and social competence among adolescents with a continuum of inattentive and hyperactive/impulsive symptoms. Past literature suggests that children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) display self-perceptions that are overly positive compared to external indicators of competence, a phenomenon that is referred to as the positive illusory bias (PIB; Owens, Goldfine, Evangelista, Hoza, & Kaiser, 2007). The PIB is well supported among children with ADHD, and recent research suggests that the PIB persists into adolescence. To date, research on the PIB has relied on difference scores (i.e., an indicator of competence is …

The Dirty “S” Word: Innovative Teaching Techniques For Counselor Educators Facilitating Learning In Statistics And Research, Rebecca L. Tadlock-Marlo, Megan Michalak

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

Innovative pedagogy will be presented and discussed to help make research a less painful class to both teach and learn. Foci include teaching methods, potential assignments, and suggestions for activities to help facilitate a more fluid learning process for counselors. Attendees will explore aspects of helping students overcome their fear of both statistics and research.

Modeling And Mathematical Analysis Of Plant Models In Ecology, Eric A. Eager

Department of Mathematics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Population dynamics tries to explain in a simple mechanistic way the variations of the size and structure of biological populations. In this dissertation we use mathematical modeling and analysis to study the various aspects of the dynamics of plant populations and their seed banks.

In Chapter 2 we investigate the impact of structural model uncertainty by considering different nonlinear recruitment functions in an integral projection model for Cirsium canescens. We show that, while having identical equilibrium populations, these two models can elicit drastically different transient dynamics. We then derive a formula for the sensitivity of the equilibrium population to …

The Gaise College Report: The American Statistical Association Meets Sound Pedagogy In Central Virginia, Beverly Wood

Publications

Research in undergraduate statistics education often centers on the introductory course required for a large percentage of college students. While acknowledging the diverse setting, audience, and purpose of introductory courses, existing research assumes that courses offered by different disciplines share the same goals and teaching practices. The purpose of this study is to examine the objectives for student outcomes and pedagogical delivery of introductory statistics courses in various academic departments to provide explicit evidence for this assumption. The American Statistical Association’s Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education (GAISE) are meant to apply to all introductory courses. The College …

Half-Life Learning Curves In The Defense Acquisition Life Cycle, Adedeji B. Badiru

Faculty Publications

Learning curves are useful for assessing performance improvement due to the positive impact of learning. In recent years, the deleterious effects of forgetting have also been recognized. Workers experience forgetting or decline in performance over time. Consequently, contemporary learning curves have attempted to incorporate forgetting components into learning curves. An area of increasing interest is the study of how fast and how far the forgetting impact can influence overall performance. This article introduces the concept of half-life analysis of learning curves using the concept of growth and decay, with particular emphasis on applications in the defense acquisition process. The computational …

Underpinning Statistical Computing Knowledge And Skills For Students, Wing Kin, Ken Li

Practical Social and Industrial Research Symposium

No abstract provided.

Using The R Library Rpanel For Gui-Based Simulations In Introductory Statistics Courses, Ryan M. Allison

Statistics

As a student, I noticed that the statistical package R (http://www.r-project.org) would have several benefits of its usage in the classroom. One benefit to the package is its free and open-source nature. This would be a great benefit for instructors and students alike since it would be of no cost to use, unlike other statistical packages. Due to this, students could continue using the program after their statistical courses and into their professional careers. It would be good to expose students while they are in school to a tool that professionals use in industry. R also has powerful …

K-8 Preservice Teachers’ Inductive Reasoning In The Problem-Solving Contexts, Marta Magiera

Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science Faculty Research and Publications

This paper reports the results from an exploratory study of K-8 pre-service teachers’ inductive reasoning. The analysis of 130 written solutions to seven tasks and 77 reflective journals completed by 20 pre-service teachers lead to descriptions of inductive reasoning processes, i.e. specializing, conjecturing, generalizing, and justifying, in the problem-solving contexts. The uncovered characterizations of the four inductive reasoning processes were further used to describe pathways of successful generalizations. The results highlight the importance of specializing and justifying in constructing powerful generalizations. Implications for teacher education are discussed.

Understanding Student Gpa, Justin Rodrigues, Malcolm Recinos, Carla Torres

Undergraduate Research Conference

As a student of Stephen F. Austin State University have you ever wondered about the efficacy of you weekly habits as it relates towards your cumulative college GPA? Have you ever been curious of students with a higher GPA (grade point average) spent their free time than those with a lower GPAs? We decided to test various weekly habits of the everyday college student to discover if their actions are in fact a determinant of college GPA.

Planned Missingness Study Design: Two Methods To Developing The Study Survey Versions, E. Whitney G. Moore

Kinesiology, Health and Sport Studies

A planned missingness data study design takes advantage of modern techniques for handling data missingness that is MCAR (Missing Completely at Random) and MAR (Missing at Random) (Brown, 2006; Enders, 2010). As modern data imputation techniques have improved, this study design option has become a powerful, cost-effective option for collecting the most data across the largest sample possible, while keeping the fatigue effect and expense of the study minimized (Little, 2010a, 2010b, 2012). The purpose of this guide is to provide an applied example for designing the surveys necessary when conducting a planned missingness research study design.

Learning Interdisciplinary Pedagogies, Alison J. Friedow, Erin E. Blankenship, Jennifer L. Green, Walter Stroup

Department of Statistics: Faculty Publications

Advocates of interdisciplinary teaching and learning in higher education suggest that interdisciplinary courses “promise a wide range of desirable educational outcomes for students” (Newell 1994: 35). These outcomes include enhanced affective and cognitive abilities, increased understanding of multiple perspectives, greater appreciation for ambiguity, and superior capacities for creative thinking, among others (35). Despite claims about the possibilities interdisciplinary learning offers, we have few examples of how faculty from different disciplines work together to create interdisciplinary classroom environments where such outcomes can occur. In short, more examples of how faculty from different disciplines actually develop, engage, and revise interdisciplinary pedagogies with …