Literature Index

Asterisks should not be used to indicate if the result of a hypothesis test is significant.

This study examined the relationships among statistics achievement and four components of attitudes toward statistics (Cognitive Competence, Affect, Value, and Difficulty) as assessed by the SATS. Meta-analysis results revealed that the size of relationships differed by the geographical region in which the studies were conducted as well as by the component of statistics attitudes being examined. Medium effect sizes were found between statistics achievement and scores on the Affect and Cognitive Competence components for studies conducted in the United States whereas those conducted in other countries yielded small effect sizes. The Value and Difficulty components exhibited small effect sizes for both regions. In every case, the U.S. effect sizes were about double in size in comparison to those from non-U.S. countries.

Although statistics instructors have attempted to improve the cognitive aspects of instruction, particularly with respect to assessments, relatively little attention has been paid to non-cognitive issues, including students' attitudes, feelings, beliefs, perceptions, motivations, and interests. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to determine (1) the methods of statistics assessments that students most prefer; (2) the methods of statistics assessment that students feel induce the least amount of anxiety; (3) the methods of statistics assessments that students most rate as inducing higher-order thinking; (4) the characteristics of students with the most negative overall attitudes toward statistics assessments; and (5) how students rate performance assessment and authentic assessments. Findings revealed that students appear most to prefer statistics examinations in which at least limited supporting material is permitted. Interestingly, assessments in which some form of supporting material is allowed appeared to be more popular than are examinations with no time constraints. However, examinations that are untimed and in which supporting material is allowed were regarded best as inducing the least amount of anxiety, as increasing levels of performance, and as promoting higher-order thinking. Overall, students tended to rate performance assessments the most highly. Unfortunately, authentic assessments were not rated as higly as were performance assessments. Canonical correlation analyses suggested that age, the number of college-level mathematics courses, the number of years elapses since students' last statistics class, and levels of statistics anxiety are determinants of these attitudes. The implications of these findings are discussed, and recommendations for future research are presented.

Authentic assessment is an emerging field within assessment models. It claims to measure by direct means the student performance on tasks that are relevant to the student outside of the school setting. Most educators will agree with the need to assess learning within the context of applications. This chapter will address the following issues: (1) a vision of an effective assessment system must be articulated--what are the standards (visions) for an effective assessment system?, (2) a well-thought-out plan for designing an effective program must be constructed--what are the components of a process for designing an effective authentic assessment program?, (3) classroom teachers readiness to change assessment plans is crucial to any program of assessment--how do you determine the degree of readiness of classroom teachers for a new assessment plan?, and (4) promises abound in the assessment field but limitations can strangle an assessment program at conception--what are the promises and limitations of recent assessment reforms? A crucial aspect of teaching and learning is knowing what and how much is learned. Assessment should be the source of this information. This chapter will give a glimpse of how to design an authentic assessment plan in statistics education.