Date of Award

Fall 2016

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

STEM Education & Professional Studies

Committee Director

John M. Ritz

Committee Member

Petros Katsioloudis

Committee Member

Mary C. Enderson

Abstract

This research sought to determine if the use of a guided project-based learning instructional approach improved students’ attitudes and academic performance in a college-level introductory statistics course at a community college. It also sought to determine if the guided project-based approach improved attitudes and academic performance more than a traditional lecture-based instructional approach. The research used a quasi-experimental Pre-test, Post-test approach. The independent variable was either the use of a guided project-based learning instructional approach or the use of a traditional lecture-based instructional approach. The dependent variables were student attitudes and final course grades. Students’ attitudes were measured using the six components of the Survey of Attitudes Toward Statistics (SATS-36). The statistical analysis was conducted using a Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) followed by an Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Significant differences were found in each analysis. Guided project-based learning was shown to improve the components of affect and value in students’ attitude toward statistics and academic performance. Students in the guided project-based instructional group (N = 83) performed better academically than students in the traditional lecture-based group (N = 58).

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In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

DOI

10.25777/9g35-yy29

ISBN

9781369536959

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