Student Survey by Release Versions

The CourseKata team is working hard, listening hard, and studying students’ data nonstop in order to continuously improve the statistics and data science textbooks. While there are minor and sometimes major improvements in content or structure, there often are revisions to the student surveys capturing their motivational and emotional beliefs. These revisions encompass adding, removing, rewording, or shifting items. Below we describe the evolution of the surveys since release version 5.0 - these revisions are captured in the detailed overviews and the codebooks for the different versions.

Versions 6.0 and 6.1

Added:
  • Added 4 R questions back into Pre and Post:
      1. PRE: I think that learning R programming will 1 be enjoyable. POST: I think that learning R programming is enjoyable
      1. I welcome the possibility of having a job in the future that involves R programming
      1. PRE: I believe that learning R programming will be difficult. POST: I believe that learning R programming is difficult.
      1. I am anxious/nervous about learning R programming.
  • Added 24 metacognitive confidence rating items to the pre-survey (prior to chapter 1) and mid2 survey (after chapter 9) to better capture students’ self-assessed understanding of key concepts. These items align with questions on the summative performance assessment we’re currently piloting.
  • For v6.1 we futher added 4 items to the pre and mid1 survey:
    • Given enough time, I feel confident that I could learn more advanced math/statistics
    • I can see how statistics would be useful for solving real-world problems.
    • I can see how algebra would be useful for solving real-world problems.
    • Using data helped me see why we learn math in the first place.
Reworded:
  • Gender question now open-ended
Removed:

Removed 15 motivational questions that had been repeated across multiple timepoints to reduce overall survey length.

Versions 5.7 and 5.8

No changes to student survey.

Version 5.6

Added:

  • Added the R sentiment item to t2 (mid1) and t3 (mid2)
  • Added two new open-ended questions:
    • Class learning: “Was there an activity, lesson, or data set from your stats class that helped you learn? If so, tell us about it.”
    • Class interest: “We’d like to incorporate your interests and ideas into future class activities. Is there a topic you’d like to explore further using data?”

Reworded:

  • Moved open-ended advice question from t4 (post) to t2 (mid1)
  • Reworded mindset pulse check item back to intrinsic value

Version 5.5

No changes to student survey.

Version 5.4

Added or replaced

Replaced intrinsic value pulse check item with mindset pulse check item

Removed

  • Utility for job item
  • Performance and mastery goal orientation
  • Programming anxiety scale
  • Memorization item
  • Deep thinking and understanding concept item
  • Perceptions of instructor value
  • Incoming course concerns
  • Language (student background)
  • Removed one item each for mindset and expectancy at both mid timepoints
  • Removed math anxiety items from mid1 and mid2 survey

Reworded or moved:

Reworded all mindset items to capture statistics ability/intelligence rather than general mindset beliefs or mathematic specific mindset beliefs

Version 5.3

Reworded

In version 5.3, the pulse checks were slightly reworded to better capture students’ motivational beliefs at the chapter level:

  • I am confident in what I have learned in the previous chapter
  • I think what I have learned in the previous chapter is useful
  • I think the previous chapter was interesting
  • I was unable to put in the time needed to do well in the previous chapter

Version 5.2

No changes to the student surveys

Version 5.1

No changes to the student surveys

Version 5.0

Release version 5.0 included some major changes such as splitting chapter 7 into 2 chapters. Accordingly, the survey structure and the location of the surveys for version 5.0+ changed: This version includes 13 chapters (compared to 12 chapters in version 4.0). You’ll find the pulse checks at the beginning of chapters 2-13 and the larger surveys prior to chapter 1 (pre-survey), after chapters 4 (mid1-survey) and 9 (mid2-survey) and after chapter 13 (post-survey). There were some other survey revisions, as outlined below:

Added

  • Programming anxiety scale
  • STEM identity item

Removed

  • Both future interest mid1 and mid2 timepoints
  • Personal and attainment value items
  • Reasons for attending college