Resilience of Passion-Driven statistics in the face of Pandemic Online learning

The Passion Driven Statistics (PDS) model (Dierker ’18) is a project-based curriculum for introductory statistics courses where students drive their own research using reproducible research techniques using a variety of statistical software languages. The PDS model shows positive impacts on students’ thinking like a scientist and personal gains in work related to research, skills, and attitudes.

This work analyzes trends from Sp19 to Fa21 (48 schools, 2,288 students), in student experiences and gains during the switch to online learning due to the pandemic and into a mix of hybrid and in-person modes of instruction for Fa21.

Preliminary results indicate the transition to online learning did not decrease the perceived impact the PDS curriculum had student skills and attitudes. While engagement with course material declined each term following Sp20, perception of how rewarding students considered the course remained consistent over time. Some groups such as first generation and underrepresented minority students reported greater perceived impact compared to their counterparts pre-covid, with no measurable decrease after the switch to online learning.

References

[1] Dierker, L., Robertson Evia, J., Singer-Freeman, K., Woods, K., Zupkus, J., Arnholt, A., Moliski, E.G., Delia Deckard, N. Gallagher, K., Rose, J., (2018). Project-based learning in introductory statistics: Comparing course experiences and predicting positive outcomes for students from diverse educational settings. International Journal of Educational Technology and Learning, 3(2), 52-64. DOI: 10.20448/2003.32.52.64