Investigating the Effectiveness of TinkerPlots in Helping Students with Learning Disabilities Understand Statistical Concepts

Landmark College, Putney VT

Investigators

Abstract

The goal of the project, "Investigating the effectiveness of TinkerPlots in helping students with learning disabilities understand statistical concepts", is to increase the number of students who successfully complete introductory statistics courses by using TinkerPlots as a tool to help them visualize and understand key statistical concepts. A secondary goal is to increase confidence in and understanding of statistics that will motivate students to pursue additional training in statistics or in a data-driven STEM field. The PI hypothesizes that students with diagnosed learning disabilities who have access to and instruction in the use of TinkerPlots within a classroom in a post-secondary introduction to statistics course will experience better academic performance on standard statistics assessments, exhibit a deeper understanding of key statistical concepts, and will be more likely to pursue additional training in a statistics related field. This is a demonstration project; the purpose of demonstration projects is to conduct proof-of-concept studies that will lead to full research projects aimed at increasing the knowledge base about the participation and success of students with disabilities in post-secondary STEM education. These goals are being addressed via the following objectives: 1. Integrate TinkerPlots into Landmark College's introductory statistics curriculum. 2. Conduct a pilot study to test the effectiveness of the curriculum for students with a diagnosed learning disability at Landmark College. 3. Conduct a pilot study to test the effectiveness of the curriculum for a more typical population of students at Holyoke Community College. 4. Investigate the usability and accessibility of TinkerPlots for students with a diagnosed learning disability. 5. Broadly disseminate information about the approach and results from the pilot study. The first pilot study addresses the question: How effective is TinkerPlots as a tool for helping students with diagnosed LD grasp statistical concepts? Data is being collected from at least two experimental and two control classrooms (using the traditional curriculum) per semester over two semesters and intersessions. Dependent variables include statistical knowledge, competence and perceived competence in statistics, and interest in STEM related courses and careers. These measures are administered at baseline and post-course intervals. ANOVA comparisons are conducted for both experimental and control groups. The college's records are used to follow those who complete the experimental and control courses to ascertain subsequent enrollment in more advanced statistics coursesor STEM courses. During the second year of the project, the study is replicated at a neighboring community college, Holyoke, where the population does not focus on students with learning disabilities, as does Landmark College. The replication at Holyoke includes other typically underrepresented groups including women, minority students, English language learners, and students from lower socio-economic backgrounds. This project is conceived as a pilot project for gathering preliminary data on the impact of TinkerPlots at two community colleges. It has the potential to contribute to the knowledge base by investigating the impact of statistical software on achievement in post-secondary statistic classes. Results from this proposed work have the potential to inform a larger research study that would contribute to the delivery of practices employed by the RDE-funded Alliances for Students with Disabilities in STEM and other post-secondary programs for individuals with disabilities in STEM.