| Title: |
Student Knowledge Gains in Polar Literacy and Statistics after Completing Guided Inquiry Modules in an Undergraduate Statistics Course |
| Language: |
English |
| Authors: |
Penny M. Rowe (ORCID 0000-0002-7594-0553); James Bernhard; Jacob Price; Anoushka Adhav; Danielle Dolan; Anna Van Boven; Lea Fortmann; Michael Town; Steven Neshyba |
| Source: |
Journal of Geoscience Education. 2025 73(3):225-238. |
| Availability: |
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals |
| Peer Reviewed: |
Y |
| Page Count: |
14 |
| Publication Date: |
2025 |
| Sponsoring Agency: |
National Science Foundation (NSF) |
| Contract Number: |
2021429; 2021213 |
| Document Type: |
Journal Articles; Reports - Research |
| Education Level: |
Higher Education; Postsecondary Education |
| Descriptors: |
Statistics Education; Inquiry; Active Learning; Undergraduate Students; Climate; Units of Study; Scientific Literacy; Instructional Effectiveness; Integrated Activities; Knowledge Level; Introductory Courses; College Mathematics; Earth Science |
| Geographic Terms: |
Washington |
| DOI: |
10.1080/10899995.2024.2426438 |
| ISSN: |
1089-9995 |
| Abstract: |
Climate change is a major concern to undergraduate students. Understanding climate change relies on an understanding of polar regions. However, courses on polar regions are rare at undergraduate institutions. Polar ENgagement through GUided INquiry (PENGUIN) modules were designed to give students experience with polar research in a variety of standard courses, including physics, computer science, physical chemistry, and economics, through using course-specific and computational tools to analyze polar data. Here, we present a new PENGUIN module taught in a statistics class, in which students apply statistical tools to ice core data to reconstruct past temperature records. Quantitative student responses on pre- and post-surveys were collected in a quasi-experimental context to assess student knowledge gains for a test group of 91 students and a control group of 73 students (who did not complete the module). Test-group students made statistically significant increases of 25 to 46% on all six statistics questions, with a normalized gain of 56%. By contrast, control group statistics knowledge gains ranged from -4 to 25%, with statistically significant increases for only three questions and a normalized gain of 22%. For polar research questions, the test group demonstrated increases in correct responses to polar research questions (11 to 31%), with statistically significant improvements (p < 0.05) of 22-31% on 3 of 6 polar research questions. These findings support the conclusion that PENGUIN modules can successfully teach course concepts while increasing polar literacy. |
| Abstractor: |
As Provided |
| Entry Date: |
2025 |
| Accession Number: |
EJ1476483 |
| Database: |
ERIC |