Traditional versus Non-traditional Teaching: Perspectives of Students in Introductory Statistics Classes

Figures & data

Table 1: Description of Sample

Characteristic	Spring 1998	Spring 1999	Spring 2000	Spring 2001	Fall 2001
Gender:
Male	64 (47.4%)	20 (43.5%)	22 (32.8%)	34 (49.3%)	36 (24.8%)
Female	71 (52.6%)	26 (56.5%)	45 (67.2%)	35 (50.7%)	109 (75.2%)
Year of Study:
Freshmen	12 (8.9%)	8 (17.8%)	7 (10.4%)	16 (23.5%)	21 (14.6%)
Sophomore	36 (26.7%)	8 (17.8%)	33 (49.2%)	18 (26.5%)	51 (35.4%)
Junior	46 (34.1%)	14 (31.1%)	18 (26.9%)	22 (32.3%)	40 (27.8%)
Senior	28 (20.7%)	8 (17.8%)	6 (9.0%)	10 (14.7%)	23 (16.0%)
5+ year undergrad	10 (7.4%)	6 (13.3%)	3 (4.5%)	2 (2.9%)	8 (5.6%)
Grad student	3 (2.2%)	1 (2.2%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	1 (0.7%)
Average Age: (# of students)	21.2 (131)	22.4 (45)	21.2 (67)	20.9 (69)	21.0 (145)
Average Student Math Skill Rating: Scale: 1 to 10 (# of students)	* (*)	6.5 (42)	4.1 (63)	6.4 (69)	7.2 (145)
In Honors Program?:
Yes	14 (10.6%)	3 (6.5%)	10 (14.9%)	7 (10.3%)	11 (7.6%)
No	118 (89.4%)	43 (93.5%)	57 (85.1%)	61 (89.7%)	134 (92.4%)
Average Cumulative GPA: (# of students)	* (*)	3.20 (42)	3.22 (59)	3.03 3(63)	3.25 (135)
Students generally seeks help from instructor or TA in classes taken:
Yes	108 (80.0%)	39 (84.8%)	47 (70.2%)	58 (84.1%)	102 (70.8%)
No	27 (20.0%)	7 (15.2%)	20 (29.8%)	11 (15.9%)	42 (29.2%)
Average number of hours a week students access the internet: (# of students)	* (*)	6.2 (46)	7.2 (66)	6.8 (67)	8.9 (143)
Average number of years since graduating high school: (# of students)	2.8 (135)	4.7 (45)	3.5 (67)	3.2 (69)	3.4 (144)

*: Denotes that data were not collected for that variable that year.

Table 2: Description of Explanatory and Response Variables used in Logistic Regression Analysis

Variable Name	Description
Response Variable:
TEACHSTYLE	Mode of instruction preferred by students (Lecture =1 Other = 0)
Explanatory Variables (Type):
SEMESTER (POLYTOMOUS)	What semester he or she was enrolled 4 indicator variables for the 5 semesters from which data are available
GENDER (DICHOTOMOUS)	Male = 0 Female = 1
AGE (CONTINUOUS)	Age of student
YEAR OF STUDY (POLYTOMOUS)	What year in school 4 indicator variables for Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, Senior, Graduate student
HIGHSCHOOL (CONTINOUS)	Number of years since graduating from high school
HONORSCOLL (DICHOTOMOUS)	Whether or not the student was in the Honors College (no = 0, yes = 1)
LEARNSTYLE (DICHOTOMOUS)	How does the student describe his or her learning style (Active or visual = 1, Auditory = 0
NOTETAKER (DICHOTOMOUS)	Does the student prefer taking notes in class (no = 0, yes = 1)
VISUALAID (DICHOTOMOUS)	Does the student think visual aids are critical (no = 0, yes = 1)
CONVERSATION (DICHOTOMOUS)	Does the student think conversation and humor are critical in the classroom (no =0, yes =1)
ACITIVITIES (DICHOTOMOUS)	Does a student find hands on activities critical (no = 0, yes = 1)
HOMEWORK (DICHOTOMOUS)	Does the student think homework assignments are useful (no = 0, yes = 1)
LABS (DICHOTOMOUS)	Does the student find computer lab useful (no = 0, yes = 1)
INTERNET (DICHOTOMOUS)	Does the student find syllabus, notes on the internet useful (no = 0, yes = 1)
INSTRUCTOR (DICHOTOMOUS)	Does the student think the instructor's personality is relevant to their learning (no = 0, yes = 1)
IDEALCLASSSIZE (CONTINUOUS)	What is the student's ideal class size?

Table 3: Students Preferring Traditional and Nontraditional Approaches by Semester

	Spring 1998	Spring 1999	Spring 2000	Spring 2001	Fall 2001	Total
Traditional Count Column Percent	46 34.1%	26 56.5%	21 31.3%	29 42.0%	49 33.8%	171 37.0%
Nontraditional Count Column Percent	89 65.9%	20 43.5%	46 68.7%	40 58.0%	96 66.2%	291 63.0%
Total	135	46	67	69	145	462

Table 4: Results of Logistic Regression Analysis

Parameter	Estimate	Standard Error of Estimate	Odds-RATIO	P-value
Intercept	1.0884	0.46520	—
SEM1	−0.1773	0.29340	0.867	0.5457
SEM2	1.0447	0.39560	2.839	0.0083
SEM3	−0.1709	0.35920	0.839	0.6343
SEM4	0.1360	0.34890	1.142	0.6967
HIGHSCHOOL	0.0607	0.03250	1.062	0.0614
ACTIVITIES	−1.1899	0.31890	0.305	0.0002
LEARNSTYLE	−2.0031	0.36740	0.137	<.0001
VISUALAIDS	−0.4311	0.25950	0.632	0.0967
CONVERSATION	−0.5803	0.29190	0.545	0.0468
IDEALCLASSSIZE	0.0105	0.00557	1.010	0.0598

Table 5: Variables Identified as Being Related to Preference in Teaching Style

Variable Name	Description	SEMESTER	What semester he or she was enrolled.
HIGHSCHOOL	Number of years since graduating from high school.
LEARNSTYLE	How does the student describe his or her learning style (Active or visual = 1, Auditory = 0)
VISUALAID	Does student find visual aids helpful (no = 0, yes = 1)
CONVERSATION	Does the student think conversation and humor are important In the classroom (no = 0, yes = 1)
ACITIVITIES	Does a student find hands on activities helpful (no = 0, yes = 1)
IDEALCLASSSIZE	What is the student's ideal class size?

Table 6: Results of Logistic Regression Analysis without Spring 1999 Data

Parameter	Estimate	Standard Error of Estimate	Odds-RATIO	P-value
Intercept	1.56	0.35	—
ACTIVITIES	−1.13	0.34	0.324	0.0008
LEARNSTYLE	−1.98	0.37	0.138	0.0001
VISUALAIDS	−0.46	0.27	0.630	0.0936
CONVERSATION	−0.51	0.30	0.598	0.0923