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The impact of a Web -based class management system on student performance and attitudes in a quantitative statistics class
Abstract
The present study investigated the impact of the use of a Web-based class management system in a statistics class on student performance and attitudes toward learning. The sample consisted of thirty-five graduate level statistics students. The subjects were assigned to a control or an experimental group based on the section of statistics for which they registered. One section used a Web-based class management system and the other section followed a traditional lecture format in the instruction of statistics. The independent variable was the use of a Web-based class management system in teaching statistics versus not using a Web-based system. The dependent variables were: (a) attitudes toward computers, as measured by the Computer Attitude Scale; (b) attitudes toward statistics, as measured by the Attitudes Toward Statistics scale; (c) knowledge of statistics, as measured by scores on 14 identical exam questions given in both statistics sections; and (d) attitude toward the use of a Web-based class management system and learning processes, as measured by structured interview questions. The statistics pretest (the Student Diagnostic Survey), the Attitudes Toward Statistics scale and the Computer Attitude Scale were administered at baseline during the five-week summer class. The surveys were distributed again at two and one-half weeks and at the end of the five-week session. Fourteen identical exam questions were given in both statistics sections. Structured interview questions were distributed at the end of the five-week session. Analyses of data revealed that students in the statistics session who used the Web-based class management system did not experience significantly (p > .05) less anxiety toward computers, more confidence toward computers or more liking toward computers compared to students who were taught in the traditional class. A Web-based system did not significantly increase knowledge of subject content. Students who used a Web-based class management system did not experience significantly better attitudes toward the use of statistics in their field of study, or a significant improvement in their attitudes toward the course of statistics in which the students were enrolled, than those taught in a class that did not use a Web-based class management system.
Subject Area
Curricula|Teaching|Educational software
Recommended Citation
Petta, Nancy Ann, "The impact of a Web -based class management system on student performance and attitudes in a quantitative statistics class" (1999). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI9951304.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI9951304