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Genigraphics® has been producing output from PowerPoint® longer than anyone in the industry; dating back to when we helped Microsoft® design the PowerPoint® software. US and Canada: 1-800-790-4001 Email: info@genigraphics.com [This sidebar area does not print.]  Paired sample t-tests were used to analyze changes in confidence over the course of the semester (D=Post-Survey –Pre-Survey). 1.Student Confidence increased during the semester:  Students rated their overall confidence using SAS as higher at the end of the semester than they did at the beginning; t(12)=7.90, p<.001.  Students also reported an increase in confidence for all 4 areas of statistical skill (See Figure 2). At the end of the semester, students were more confident:  Analyzing data using SAS; t(11)=9.54, p<.001  Troubleshooting analyses ; t(12)=8.70, p<.001  Interpreting and applying the results of statistical analyses; t(12)=4.31, p=.001  Creating new analyses and novel code; t(11)=4.93, p<.001 2.There was a greater increase in student confidence for topics covered by “Make it Work” exercises than those not covered.  Students reported a greater increase in confidence for topics included in a “Make it Work” exercise vs. topics not covered for:  Analyzing data using SAS; t(11)=4.12, p<.01 (See Figure 3)  Troubleshooting analyses; t(12)=2.50, p<.05 3.Students enjoyed the “Make it Work” exercises and found them a useful tool for learning statistics and SAS programming.  When asked to rate 7 components of the PY 716-L course in terms of usefulness, 69.3% of students listed the “Make it Work” as one of the Top 3 “most effective” parts of the course.  Responses to the open-ended qualitative feedback questions present a positive student view of the exercises:  “I found them helpful because they featured common mistakes.”  “They were great. Maybe even adding in the wrong/inappropriate analyses and seeing if students catch it?”  “Helpful—hands on experience with the code is always good.”  “They were helpful; a few more would have been great.” [emphasis added]  “I did find them helpful. Many times when you are working on SAS alone, you cannot get a code to run as a result of a very small error in syntax. I think the more practice you get at picking up on those small errors can make a big difference.”  “I like them. I thought they were very helpful in understanding the syntax via troubleshooting. I just think doing more of them would be better. Maybe start the class with that?” [emphasis added] 4.Increases in student confidence (at all levels) were positively correlated with higher overall course grade;.58<r<.93, p<.05. The Class:  PY 716-L is the lab section of the first of a three-course statistics education sequence designed for graduate students enrolled in UAB’s three psychology graduate programs.  In Fall 2014, 13 first year graduate students were enrolled:  8 female; 5 male  3 Behavioral Neuroscience  4 Developmental  6 Medical-Clinical  Students are given appropriate code to run a variety of analyses in SAS 9.3.  They are asked to modify given code to successfully run, interpret, and report analyses for a variety of class assignments.  Students also complete a group project which involves conceiving a study design, creating data, choosing analyses, running analyses, interpreting results, and reporting conclusions. “Make it Work” exercises:  Section of code provided to students with mistakes.  Students must use knowledge provided by class lectures and error messages within the SAS log window to fix coding errors.  Exercises also ask students to report results of analyses once they can successfully be run.  Exercises were assigned at the beginning of some class periods, but not others; exercises did not cover all material presented in the course.  Figure 3 shows a sample “Make it Work’ exercise addressing t-tests. Pre-course survey:  During the first class of the semester, students completed surveys rating: 1.Overall confidence using the SAS program 2.Confidence for skills related to conducting analyses (i.e., “Rate your confidence in using SAS to conduct dependent samples t-test.”) 3.Confidence for skills related to troubleshooting analyses (i.e., “Rate your confidence troubleshooting issues related to SAS code for t-tests.”) 4.Confidence for skills related to interpreting analyses (i.e., “Rate your confidence interpreting results of statistical analyses.”) 5.Confidence for skills related to creating analyses (i.e., “Rate your confidence choosing the appropriate statistical analyses to run.”)  Ratings for all survey questions range from 1 “no experience/confidence” to 5 “mastery/extreme confidence” Post-course survey:  During the last course of the semester, students completed surveys including all measures from the pre-survey.  Students were also asked to rate 7 components of the course, including the “Make it Work” exercises, from “most effective” to “least effective.”  Students also provided qualitative feedback on the “Make it Work” exercises. Effects of Targeted Troubleshooting Activities on Student Confidence In a Statistics Computer Lab: A Pilot Investigation Meredith A. Henry and Maria Hopkins University of Alabama at Birmingham Meredith A. Henry University of Alabama at Birmingham Email: mahenry@uab.edu Phone: (205) 612-5560 Contact  Competence conducting, interpreting, and reporting results of statistical analyses is critical for success as a psychology student.  Unfortunately, students—even those who typically perform well in other psychology courses—often struggle and/or hold negative attitudes towards statistics (Mills, 2004).  Compounding this issue may be a lack of confidence in navigating statistical computing programs such as SAS (Statistical Analysis System).  Previous anecdotal evidence suggests that students 1) struggle with troubleshooting the SAS program and 2) would prefer more hand-on activities in the statistics lab The purpose of the current study is to test the effectiveness of a series of exercises, designed to give students experience troubleshooting the SAS program, in increasing student confidence across several domains of statistical skills. Study Rationale Method and Materials Conclusions & Future Directions Results Figure 3. Sample “Make it Work” exercise; students are given “bad” code (left) and required to “fix” it (right).  Student confidence increased for all types of statistical skills during the course of the semester.  This increase in confidence was more significant for topics included in the “Make it Work” exercises.  In addition, students viewed the “Make it Work” exercises positively, even requesting to have more of them built into the syllabus (see emphasized quotes above).  This study has limitations:  The sample size of 13 is fairly low.  There is not a separate control class, which may make it difficult to delineate gains owed to the exercises from those due to other aspects of the course.  Nevertheless, given that we found a further increase in confidence for those topics covered by the exercises over those that were not, we feel confident concluding that the “Make it Work” exercises contributed significantly to increased student confidence.  Increased confidence was associated with higher course grades, and is likely to have other positive effects as well.  In Fall 2015, “Make it Work” exercises will begin every class.  Further gains in confidence for that class, compared to this year’s, will be taken as more support for the efficacy of the “Make it Work” exercises. Figure 2. Change in student confidence for topics included in “Make it Work” exercises vs. those excluded. (Higher scores indicate more confidence; *=p<.05, **=p<.01, ***=p<.001) Figure 1. Change in student confidence across domains of statistical skill pre- and post- lab course. (Higher scores indicate more confidence; *=p<.05, **=p<.01, ***=p<.001) Acknowledgements With profound gratitude for the support of Dr. Julia Austin, Nancy Abney, Dr. Steven Freeman, Dr. Laura Slane, and the other faculty and student members of both the CIRTL program at UAB and CIRTL’s online Teaching- as-Research courses. With appreciation for my students, who were good sports about being my guinea pigs, and who were complimentary about my efforts to improve their course. Funds for travel to and participation at the CIRTL forum were provided by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DUE-1231286 *** ** *