Papers by Sharon Lane-Getaz
This paper describes the development and validation of the Reasoning about P-values and Statistic... more This paper describes the development and validation of the Reasoning about P-values and Statistical Significance (RPASS) scale. The RPASS was designed to support future research on students' conceptual understanding and misunderstanding of statistical significance and the effects of instructional approaches on this understanding. After expert content validation and testing, the 27-item RPASS-4 was administered across five introductory courses at California Polytechnic State University (N = 224). Respondents answered 16 of 27 items correctly, on average. This paper reports evidence of construct validity, both convergent and discriminant validity evidence (n = 56). However, internal consistency reliability was low (α = .42, N = 224). A subset of 15 items was identified with expected coefficient alpha of .66 by removing items with low corrected item-total correlations. Implications for future development and research are discussed.
The American Statistician, Feb 1, 2010
In the May 2009 issue of The American Statistician, Brown and Kass (BK) offered thought-provoking... more In the May 2009 issue of The American Statistician, Brown and Kass (BK) offered thought-provoking answers to the ques-tion What is Statistics? which have direct implications for statistics education. For five years, St. Olaf College's Center for Interdisciplinary Research's (CIR) ...
This observational study examines inferential reasoning development in students taking a randomiz... more This observational study examines inferential reasoning development in students taking a randomization-based introductory college course (n = 38). The proportions of students answering each item correctly are compared from Pretest to Posttest using a simple descriptive scatterplot. This "canoe plot" includes a superimposed 95% confidence band which differentiates items with no statistical difference between the proportion answering correctly on the Pretest and Posttest from those that do differ. A brief discussion follows highlighting the content for those items where inferential reasoning differs from Pretest to Posttest. The Reasoning about P-values and Statistical Significance (RPASS) scale is used to measure students' inferential reasoning outcomes and gains. Directions for future research are discussed.
This quasi-experiment compares student learning outcomes from three college statistics courses to... more This quasi-experiment compares student learning outcomes from three college statistics courses to investigate whether greater randomization test content explains gains in conceptual understanding of inference, adjusting for prior knowledge and mathematical ability. The study uses a 34-item Reasoning about P-values and Statistical Significance (RPASS) scale to measure gains in students' inferential understanding. Of two introductory courses, one has limited randomization content (n 1 = 55). The second emphasizes randomization, simulation, and P-values throughout (n 2 = 26). The third is a second course in statistics that reviews randomization tests at the beginning of the course (n 3 = 24). Comparative results, score reliability, and the changes in respondents' correct conceptions and misconceptions are reported. Directions for future research are discussed.
Page 1. i SIMULATE AND STIMULATE TO UNDERSTAND: LEARNING STATISTICS WITH FATHOM by Sharon J. Lan... more Page 1. i SIMULATE AND STIMULATE TO UNDERSTAND: LEARNING STATISTICS WITH FATHOM by Sharon J. Lane-Getaz A Capstone submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Teaching Hamline University Saint Paul, ...
The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, Sep 1, 2022
The Journal of the Civil War Era, 2021
Assessing Student Leaning In Statistics IASE Satellite Conference
This paper describes the development and validation of the Reasoning about P-values and Statistic... more This paper describes the development and validation of the Reasoning about P-values and Statistical Significance (RPASS) scale. The RPASS was designed to support future research on students’ conceptual understanding and misunderstanding of statistical significance and the effects of instructional approaches on this understanding. After expert content validation and testing, the 27-item RPASS-4 was administered across five introductory courses at California Polytechnic State University (N = 224). Respondents answered 16 of 27 items correctly, on average. This paper reports evidence of construct validity, both convergent and discriminant validity evidence (n = 56). However, internal consistency reliability was low (α = .42, N = 224). A subset of 15 items was identified with expected coefficient alpha of .66 by removing items with low corrected item-total correlations. Implications for future development and research are discussed.
This is to verify that we have examined this copy of a doctoral thesis by
This observational study examines inferential reasoning development in students taking a randomiz... more This observational study examines inferential reasoning development in students taking a randomization-based introductory college course (n = 38). The proportions of students answering each item correctly are compared from Pretest to Posttest using a simple descriptive scatterplot. This "canoe plot" includes a superimposed 95% confidence band which differentiates items with no statistical difference between the proportion answering correctly on the Pretest and Posttest from those that do differ. A brief discussion follows highlighting the content for those items where inferential reasoning differs from Pretest to Posttest. The Reasoning about P-values and Statistical Significance (RPASS) scale is used to measure students' inferential reasoning outcomes and gains. Directions for future research are discussed.
This study examines reliability and validity evidence for the Reasoning about P-values and Statis... more This study examines reliability and validity evidence for the Reasoning about P-values and Statistical Significance (RPASS) scale and reports evidence of introductory and intermediate students ’ understanding and misunderstanding of inference. RPASS is being developed to facilitate research on students ’ inferential understanding and the effects of instructional approaches on this understanding. RPASS-6 was constructed by combining the previous RPASS with items from the Assessment Resource Tools for Improving Statistical Thinking: Test of Significance Topic Scale (ARTIST TOS). Expert ratings were reported. The 23-item RPASS-6 was administered in four introductory and three intermediate level courses. Respondents answered 74 % correctly, on average. A reliability analysis identified 20 items with sufficient internal consistency to conduct research. Implications for future development and research are discussed.
This quasi-experiment compares student learning outcomes from three college statistics courses to... more This quasi-experiment compares student learning outcomes from three college statistics courses to investigate whether greater randomization test content explains gains in conceptual understanding of inference, adjusting for prior knowledge and mathematical ability. The study uses a 34-item Reasoning about P-values and Statistical Significance (RPASS) scale to measure gains in students’ inferential understanding. Of two introductory courses, one has limited randomization content (n1 = 55). The second emphasizes randomization, simulation, and P-values throughout (n2 = 26). The third is a second course in statistics that reviews randomization tests at the beginning of the course (n3 = 24). Comparative results, score reliability, and the changes in respondents ’ correct conceptions and misconceptions are reported. Directions for future research are discussed.
Hamline University, 2002
Whether running statistical software on a personal computer or using graphing
calculators, stati... more Whether running statistical software on a personal computer or using graphing
calculators, statistics educators have used technology to make computations easier
and to depict statistical ideas graphically. Statistical software is widely recognized as
effective scaffolding to teach students statistics (Packard, 1993; Keeler and
Steinhorst, 1995; Cabilio and Farrell, 2001; Mills, 2002). However, there is little
research that shows whether statistical software is actually effective in teaching
statistical concepts. This integrative action research project addresses the question;
did adding Fathom Dynamic Statistics™ software to my introductory statistics course
deepen students’ conceptual understanding?
This paper describes the development and validation of the Reasoning about P-values and Statistic... more This paper describes the development and validation of the Reasoning about P-values and Statistical Significance (RPASS) scale. The RPASS was designed to support future research on students ’ conceptual understanding and misunderstanding of statistical significance and the effects of instructional approaches on this understanding. After expert content validation and testing, the 27-item RPASS-4 was administered across five introductory courses at California Polytechnic State University (N = 224). Respondents answered 16 of 27 items correctly, on average. This paper reports evidence of construct validity, both convergent and discriminant validity evidence (n = 56). However, internal consistency reliability was low (α =.42, N = 224). A subset of 15 items was identified with expected coefficient alpha of.66 by removing items with low corrected item-total correlations. Implications for future development and research are discussed.
This mixed-methods study reports psychometric properties of the 34-item Reasoning about P-values ... more This mixed-methods study reports psychometric properties of the 34-item Reasoning about P-values and Statistical Significance (RPASS) scale. RPASS is being designed as a research tool to assess effects of teaching methods on students’ inferential reasoning. During development (Phase I), two graphical scenarios and 12 items were added to the scale, field tested, and evaluated by three content raters. During Phase II, reliability and validity evidence were gathered in three college statistics courses. Score reliability was sufficient to conduct group research (= 0.76, n = 105). RPASS scores were correlated with college entrance scores and GPAs as evidence of construct-related validity. Further validity evidence was obtained by analyzing consistency between students’ reasoning and answers for eight items. Future development and research are discussed.
This quasi-experiment compares student learning outcomes from three college statistics courses to... more This quasi-experiment compares student learning outcomes from three college statistics courses to investigate whether greater randomization test content explains gains in conceptual understanding of inference, adjusting for prior knowledge and mathematical ability. The study uses a 34-item Reasoning about P-values and Statistical Significance (RPASS) scale to measure gains in students’ inferential understanding. Of two introductory courses, one has limited randomization content (n1 = 55). The second emphasizes randomization, simulation, and P-values throughout (n2 = 26). The third is a second course in statistics that reviews randomization tests at the beginning of the course (n3 = 24). Comparative results, score reliability, and the changes in respondents’ correct conceptions and misconceptions are reported. Directions for future research are discussed.
In reaction to misuses and misinterpretations of p-values and confidence intervals, a social scie... more In reaction to misuses and misinterpretations of p-values and confidence intervals, a social science journal editor banned p-values from its pages. This study aimed to show that education could address misuse and abuse. This study examines inference-related learning outcomes for social science students in an introductory course supplemented with randomization and simulation content. Learning gains were measured across a suggested taxonomy of inference learning outcomes using the Reasoning about P-values and Statistical Significance (RPASS-10) scale. Three graphical comparisons of students' Pretest and Posttest proportions were encoded by learning gain or loss, an inference learning outcome taxonomy, or if a correct concept or misconception was assessed. What students learned and the difficulties that persisted shape recommendations for teaching and future research.
This observational study examines inferential reasoning development in students taking a randomiz... more This observational study examines inferential reasoning development in students taking a randomization-based introductory college course (n = 38). The proportions of students answering each item correctly are compared from Pretest to Posttest using a simple descriptive scatterplot. This “canoe plot” includes a superimposed 95% confidence band which differentiates items with no statistical difference between the proportion answering correctly on the Pretest and Posttest from those that do differ. A brief discussion follows highlighting the content for those items where inferential reasoning differs from Pretest to Posttest. The Reasoning about P-values and Statistical Significance (RPASS) scale is used to measure students’ inferential reasoning outcomes and gains. Directions for future research are discussed.
Statistics Education Research Journal, 2013
This mixed-methods study reports psychometric properties of the 34-item Reasoning about P-values ... more This mixed-methods study reports psychometric properties of the 34-item Reasoning about P-values and Statistical Significance (RPASS) scale. RPASS is being designed as a research tool to assess effects of teaching methods on students’ inferential reasoning. During development (Phase I), two graphical scenarios and 12 items were added to the scale, field tested, and evaluated by three content raters. During Phase II, reliability and validity evidence were gathered in three college statistics courses. Score reliability was sufficient to conduct group research (= 0.76, n = 105). RPASS scores were correlated with college entrance scores and GPAs as evidence of construct-related validity. Further validity evidence was obtained by analyzing consistency between students’ reasoning and answers for eight items. Future development and research are discussed.
This observational study examines inferential reasoning development in students taking a randomiz... more This observational study examines inferential reasoning development in students taking a randomization-based introductory college course (n = 38). The proportions of students answering each item correctly are compared from Pretest to Posttest using a simple descriptive scatterplot. This "canoe plot" includes a superimposed 95% confidence band which differentiates items with no statistical difference between the proportion answering correctly on the Pretest and Posttest from those that do differ. A brief discussion follows highlighting the content for those items where inferential reasoning differs from Pretest to Posttest. The Reasoning about P-values and Statistical Significance (RPASS) scale is used to measure students' inferential reasoning outcomes and gains. Directions for future research are discussed. INTRODUCTION Despite the importance of understanding inference to be "statistically educated," inferential reasoning has historically remained elusive fo...
Uploads
Papers by Sharon Lane-Getaz
calculators, statistics educators have used technology to make computations easier
and to depict statistical ideas graphically. Statistical software is widely recognized as
effective scaffolding to teach students statistics (Packard, 1993; Keeler and
Steinhorst, 1995; Cabilio and Farrell, 2001; Mills, 2002). However, there is little
research that shows whether statistical software is actually effective in teaching
statistical concepts. This integrative action research project addresses the question;
did adding Fathom Dynamic Statistics™ software to my introductory statistics course
deepen students’ conceptual understanding?
calculators, statistics educators have used technology to make computations easier
and to depict statistical ideas graphically. Statistical software is widely recognized as
effective scaffolding to teach students statistics (Packard, 1993; Keeler and
Steinhorst, 1995; Cabilio and Farrell, 2001; Mills, 2002). However, there is little
research that shows whether statistical software is actually effective in teaching
statistical concepts. This integrative action research project addresses the question;
did adding Fathom Dynamic Statistics™ software to my introductory statistics course
deepen students’ conceptual understanding?