This paper is from Session 5H: Statistics Education Across Disciplines: pedagogy and assessment for statistical literacy, critical thinking, and evidence-based practice
which comes under Topic 5: Statistics education in the workplace, government and across disciplines
Paper 5H3 (Friday 13th, 11:00-12:30)
The Multiple Choice Question: Assessing Statistical Literacy and Critical Thinking in the Introductory Statistics Course at the College Level
Presenter
- Rossi Hassad (Mercy College, New York, United States)
Co-author
- Gerald Iacullo (Berkeley College, New York, United States, United States)
Abstract
Statistical literacy is recognized by most disciplines as a necessary competency for success in college and the workplace. Toward this end, there is much emphasis and debate on assessment approaches, including whether the multiple choice question (MCQ) format is appropriate for assessing statistical literacy, which encompasses critical thinking. This study analyzed data from 4 different introductory college-level statistics classes, which used the same MCQ exam designed to assess statistical literacy. Psychometric analysis was performed. The results suggest that MCQ questions can be effective in assessing statistical literacy if they facilitate multilogical thinking, or connected understanding, that is, using multiple concepts simultaneously in problem-solving, including conceptual hierarchies or nested concepts.