Presented by Ogbonnaya “John” Nwoha, Rosemary Mokia, & Bilal Dia ERCBEC Conference Myrtle Beach, SC, Oct , 2009

Presentation Outline Introduction Review of Literature Study Design Data Methodology Results Conclusion

Introduction The purpose of the study is to ascertain if the use of Aplia makes any difference in the test score of students. It is hypothesized that students who use Aplia in a Business Statistics course should score higher on course tests than students who did not use the technology.

Introduction Contd’ The study is necessary to justify the money and time spent by students and faculty adopting the Aplia technology. The study provides an independent assessment of the technology’s claim. The study contributes to the literature on Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI) n general and Aplia in particular.

Literature Reviewed CAI as a supplement to classroom instruction (Burke Marilyn & Others, 1992) CAI against paper based assessments (Clariana Roy & Wallace Patricia, 2002) Differences in exam scores by: gender, ethnicity, GPA, ACT, SAT, and citizenship (Guili Zhang at all, 2008) employment (Swanson Vivien et al, 2006)

Literature Reviewed Contd’ Differences in exam scores by: age, educational level, learning style, self efficacy task value and motivation (Yukselkurt, et al, 2007) class attendance (Tiruneh, gizachew, 2007) nationality, race and ethnic background (Viadero Debra, 2003)

Study Design Two sections of Business Statistics Taught by same instructor Offered same days of the week Administered same tests Identical course syllabi Graded components included Aplia assignments for one section only

The Grading Scales Grading Scale for the AM Class (Aplia)Grading Scale for the PM Class (No Aplia) Students will be evaluated in the following manner: 1. Three exams (worth 20 percent each) 60% 2. Nine quizzes (worth 1 percent each) 9% 3. Assignments and Home work 6% 4. Aplia Assignments 25% Grading will be on a scale as follows: A 90 – 100 percent B 80 – 89 percent C70 – 79 percent D60 – 69 percent FLess than 60 Students will be evaluated in the following manner: 1.Three exams (worth 100 points each) Nine quizzes (worth 10 points each) Assignments and Home work60 Grading will be on a scale as follows: A 405 – 450 B 360 – 404 C315 – 359 D270 – 314 FLess than 270 Table 1: Grading Scales

Data Test scores for three exams were recorded Aplia scores for Aplia users was obtained A questionnaire was administered to obtain additional information on demographics, study style, employment, preferred class time, level of computer use and many other variables Open ended questions asked for pros and cons of the Aplia technology

Methodology Descriptive statistics was used to summarize data on exam scores and Aplia scores. A test of the difference between two population means is used to make inferences in this study. Microsoft Excel Analysis Tool Pak was used to implement the analysis.

Results Table 2: Mean Test Scores AM Class (Aplia) PM Class (No Aplia)Difference P-Value (two-tail) EXAM EXAM EXAM EXAMTOTAL Sample Size5442

Results Contd’ Table 2 indicates that: The mean score for the AM class (Aplia users) was higher than the PM class in all three exams The differences were : 11 percent for the first exam 16 percent for the second exam 23 percent for the third exam The differences are statistically significant at the 2% level

Results Contd’ Interestingly, the difference in mean score between the two classes increased with each exam possible explanation : the students became increasing familiar with Aplia as the semester progressed the students increased their use of Aplia as the instructor began every class section with a discussion of Aplia assignments

Results Contd’ The frequency distribution for the sum of the three exams (EXAMTOTAL). Scores AM Class (Aplia) PM Class (No Aplia) Grade Equivalent (43%)31 (74%) F (17%)5 (12%) D (13%)2 (5%) C (17%)2 (5%) B (11%)2 (5%) A Sample Size5442 ***The percent distribution for each class is in brackets.***

Results Contd’ Table 3 reveals that: 74 percent of the students who did not use Aplia would have failed the course if exam scores were the only considerations in assigning final grades. This compares to 43 percent of “F” grades for those that used Aplia. 28 percent of those who used Aplia would have made either an “A” or a “B” compared to only 10 percent for those who did not use Aplia.

Results Contd’ On the open ended questions, most of the students stated that Aplia helped them understand the material. On the con side, students stated that Aplia was expensive and time consuming.

Conclusions Students who used Aplia scored higher in business statistics exams than those who did not use the technology. Aplia users scored 16.5 percentage points higher on the average than non-users. Students identified cost and time as the disadvantages of using Aplia. However, the students who used Aplia admitted that it was useful in furthering their understanding of business statistics.

Conclusions Contd’ One implication of the findings of this study is that CAIs including Aplia should be part of an instructor’s tool kit. These CAIs fit the way most of our students work. They spend a lot of time on computers and they enjoy all kinds of computer games. They might as well be meaningfully engaged on the computer.

Future Studies Willingness to Pay Multinomial Vs. Simple Regression Concentrating on Intervening Variables ANOVA Report on other variables collected