Effectiveness of Instructional Techniques to Create Retainable Quantitative Skills Kathy Baughman Assistant Professor of Accounting Wei-Chung Wang Assistant Professor of Economics

Motivation of the Study Quantitative Requirements in the Business Curriculum at Juniata College Literature Review Current Experiment Design and Progress Preliminary Results from Fall 2014 Discussion on Challenges and Next Steps Overview 2

Calculus I or Quantitative Business Analysis (QBA) QBA had been considered by students as a course designed for students that have less aptitude in math For certain majors we require or recommend students to take more numerical courses (i.e. Accounting, Economics, Finance) Self-selection problem Quantitative Requirements for Business Majors 3

Algebra based, 200-level course Course contents – Module 1: Review of Math and Descriptive Stats – Module 2-4: Business Context No calculator policy, techniques demonstrated for efficiency In-class practice problems, homework assignments Speed and accuracy Course reputation QBA Design 4

Importance of Cognitive Understanding of Math Relations

200-level required course for ALL business majors Course with heavy use of numbers QBA first then MA or the other way around Some students take calculus instead of QBA Memo writing requirements Anecdotal evidence showed students with QBA experience perform better in MA and other courses Managerial Accounting 6

Does changing the instructional technique help students retain numerical sense? Does the improved skill transfer to other quantitative courses in the curriculum? Does the change in instruction cause any change in student perception of their math/numerical abilities? Research Questions 7

Estimation vs. Accuracy Control Group Self-reported Attitude Assessment Noteworthy Points 8

Circle one that best describes your belief in the use of calculators: a.Being able to do arithmetic problems in my head is an important business skill b.Given how common calculators are, it is silly to worry about being able to do arithmetic in my head c.Being able to do arithmetic problems in my head will give me a competitive advantage in finding a job d.I hate math Aptitude Question in Pre Test 9

Literature focuses on studying the effect of calculators use at the grade level Some found the use of calculators stimulates pupils to think about approaches to problems (Wheatley 1980) Others argued the students’ performances are more strongly associated with curricular experience than with number‐concept attainment (Ruthven 2006) Literature Review 10

Researchers have also presented conflicting findings about whether allowing the use of calculators changes the difficulty of mathematics tests (Loyd 1991) Some even argued that the effects of calculator use could be either present or absent in both difficult and easy mathematical test questions (Bridgeman, Harvey, Braswell 2005). No research has been done particularly at creating business numerical sense without calculation tools Literature Review (Cont’d) 11

Lack of longitudinal data – only Fall 2014 at the moment Speed vs. Accuracy – how do we put the idea into a test Estimation is or is not numerical sense Differentiate between numerical sense and reading comprehension Challenges 12

17 business math questions given to QBA students in the beginning and the end of the semester Time limit is 20 mins Include aptitude and demographic questions in the pre test Only alternate the order of questions for the test in the end of the semester Same test given to Managerial Acct. students Some questions only ask students to provide estimates. Most involve reading Test Design 13

In QBA, post test results show significant improvement in both accuracy and speed Average numbers of Correct improve from 7.3 to 11.1 (out of 17) Average numbers of Not Attempt improve from 3.3 to 1 16 out of 27 students finished the post test less than the allowed time (20 mins) Only 5 out of 27 in MA took QBA before, their results show no difference than those who didn’t take QBA For these 5, calculators were removed but no instructional technique was introduced (taught by adjunct) Preliminary Results from Fall

Enriching the study with external data (SAT, GPA etc.) Solving reading comprehension by introducing audio/visual tests Creating a control group of business majors who have chosen to take Calculus instead of QBA Next Steps 15

In QBA: pre and post In Managerial Accounting: – Identifier: Student ID QBA (when) and quant background, GPA, Major, Class, SAT (endowed skills) etc. – Timing of the survey/questions Math skills Performance of MA Experiment Design 16

Questions?