This paper is from Session 3C: Statistical instructors’ knowledge of assessing students’ learning of statistics

which comes under Topic 3: Education and development of staff who teach statistics

The LOCUS assessment at the college level: conceptual understanding in introductory statistics

Presenter

• Douglas Whitaker (University of Florida, United States)

Co-authors

• Catherine Case (University of Florida, United States)
• Steve Foti (University of Florida, United States)
• Tim Jacobbe (University of Florida, United States)

Abstract

LOCUS is a collection of assessments designed to measure conceptual understanding of statistics at the levels hypothesized by the GAISE framework. The original target population of the assessments is students in grades 6-12, but a version (pre/post) was constructed to meet the needs of introductory statistics instructors and students. With the implementation of the Common Core State Standards, the statistical knowledge of enrolled students is expected to change, and the LOCUS assessment for introductory statistics will be able to measure that change and possibly serve as a placement test. The LOCUS assessment is compared to the CAOS instrument and the ARTIST project. Preliminary results of the validity study with introductory college students are presented with attention given to the utility of the LOCUS assessment for placement purposes.