STAT411/412: Assessment Report
Fall STAT411 Methods for Data Analysis I
Assessment Coordinator: Jennifer Weeding and Mark Greenwood
In Fall 2016, we assessed outcomes 4 and 5 on undergraduate mathematics major (statistics option) students in STAT 411 using a signature assignment.
Outcome 4
Given a scientific question and information about the study design used to collect data, students will be able to conduct an appropriate statistical analysis.
Outcome 5
Students will be able to explain and interpret the results of a statistical data analysis in a written report, and in a way that is consistent with research question and study design.
Results
Of the eight statistics students in the course, three were assessed as acceptable and two were excellent. The goal of having at least 50% acceptable or excellent was met.
| Assessed | Excellent | Acceptable | Marginal | Unacceptable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LO 4 | 2 | 3 | 0-3 | 0-3 |
| LO 5 | 2 | 3 | 0-3 | 0-3 |
Recommendations
No recommendations.
Spring STAT412 Methods for Data Analysis II
Assessment Coordinator: Mark Greenwood
In Spring 2017, we assessed outcomes 4 and 5 on undergraduate mathematics major (statistics option) students in STAT 412 using a signature assignment.
Outcome 4
Given a scientific question and information about the study design used to collect data, students will be able to conduct an appropriate statistical analysis.
Outcome 5
Students will be able to explain and interpret the results of a statistical data analysis in a written report, and in a way that is consistent with research question and study design.
Results
Of the thirteen statistics students in the course, five were assessed as acceptable and four were excellent. The goal of having at least 50% acceptable or excellent was met.
| Assessed | Excellent | Acceptable | Marginal | Unacceptable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LO 1 | 4 | 5 | 0-4 | 0-4 |
| LO 2 | 4 | 5 | 0-4 | 0-4 |
Recommendations
No recommendations.
Program Learning Outcomes
| LO# | Students should demonstrate the ability to: |
|---|---|
| 1. | Given a scientific question, students will design an appropriate sampling plan or experimental design. |
| 2. | Given a sampling plan or experimental design, students will be able to execute the plan or design. |
| 3. | Students will display competency in statistical computing. |
| 4. | Given a scientific question and information about the study design used to collect data, students will be able to conduct an appropriate statistical analysis. |
| 5. | Students will be able to explain and interpret the results of a statistical data analysis in a written report, and in a way that is consistent with research question and study design. |
Rubric
The selection of the assignment that will serve as the signature assignment is left up to the discretion of the course instructor for that semester.
| LO | Excellent | Acceptable | Marginal | Unacceptable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The initially proposed design is feasible, statistically valid and directly addresses the scientific question. | The initially proposed design has minor flaws and is revised, and the revision now satisfies the three criteria for excellence. | The revision of the initially proposed design is statistically valid but does not satisfy both of the other two criteria for excellence. | The proposed design is not statistically valid. |
| 2 | The student collects the appropriate data according to the design. | The student collects the appropriate data but fails to follow the design exactly. The failure to follow the design is a minor problem that does not invalidate the resulting data. | The student fails to follow the design in a minor way but the result is the data is not appropriate for the study. | The student fails to follow the design indicating they do not understand what the design is asking them to do. The resulting data is not appropriate for the study. |
| 3 | The student recognizes the best statistical method to use, chooses the correct approach to analyze the data, and arrives at the correct answer. | The student does not recognize the best statistical method but chooses one that can be considered reasonable. They implement the method they have chosen correctly and arrive at the correct answer for their method. | The student may recognize the best statistical method or chose a sub optimal but appropriate method, however they implement the method they have chosen incorrectly and arrive at an incorrect answer. | The student fails to recognize any appropriate method for question and data. The implementation does not matter. |
| 4 | The oral presentation is clear and concise. It is correct in terms of the statistical results, scope of inference, and vocabulary. | There may be minor flaws in terms of the statistical results, scope of inference, and vocabulary, but nothing that invalidates the conclusions. It may not be concise but the oral presentation is easily understandable. | There may be flaws in terms of the statistical results, scope of inference, vocabulary that invalidates some of the conclusions. The student displayed an understanding of what needed to be done but the execution was flawed. The oral presentation may ramble. | Major flaws in terms of the statistical results, scope of inference and vocabulary which invalidate the conclusions or the oral presentation is incoherent. The student did not display an understanding of what needed to be done. |
| 5 | The report is clear and concise. It is correct in terms of the statistical results, scope of inference, and vocabulary. It has minimal writing errors (grammar, spelling, etc.) |
There may be minor flaws in terms of the statistical results, scope of inference, and vocabulary, but nothing that invalidates the conclusions. It may not be concise and it may have several writing errors but overall it is easily readable. |
There may be flaws in terms of the statistical results, scope of inference, and vocabulary that invalidates some of the conclusions. The student displayed an understanding of what needed to be done but the execution was flawed. The report may ramble and have several writing errors but it is readable. | Major flaws in terms of the statistical results, scope of inference and vocabulary which invalidate the conclusions or the report is so poorly written that it is very difficult to read and extract the relevant information. The student did not display an understanding of what needed to be done. |
Threshold
The goal is to have at least 50% acceptable or excellent.