Teaching Statistics: Can Supplemental Instruction Facilitate Student Success?

Abstract

Social science students are often uninterested in studying statistics, and only take these courses because they are required. This disinterest can lead to lower performance. We employ regression analysis to examine the impact of attending Supplemental Instruction sessions on final grades earned in a required social sciences statistics course at a small, regional public Hispanic-serving institution in the Southwest United States. We find that attending voluntary Supplemental Instruction sessions is an effective way to help our predominantly Latinx and female student body improve their final grades. Collaborative learning programs can be important tools for improving academic outcomes for undergraduate students of diverse backgrounds taking required statistics courses.

Keywords:

• SoTL
• supplemental instruction
• teaching pedagogy
• teaching statistics

Notes

1 First generation refers to students whose parents did not complete a baccalaureate degree.

2 Some studies address self-selection bias by requiring students to participate in SI (Bushway and Flower 2002; Hodges et al. 2001; Jones and Fields 2001) but SI in this course remains voluntary.