20120824

FCI pre-test comparison: Cuesta College versus UC-Davis (fall semester 2012)

Students at both Cuesta College (San Luis Obispo, CA) and the University of California at Davis were administered the 30-question Force Concept Inventory (Doug Hestenes, et al.) during the first week of instruction.

Cuesta College
Physics 205A
Fall semester 2012    		UC-Davis
Physics 7B
Summer session II 2002
N70 students*76 students*
low 0 2
mean     9.6 +/- 5.0 9.1 +/- 4.3
high2627

*Excludes students with negative informed consent forms (*.pdf)

Student's t-test of the null hypothesis results in p = 0.46 (t = 0.748, sdev = 4.63, degrees of freedom = 144), thus there is no significant difference between Cuesta College and UC-Davis FCI pre-test scores.

Later this semester (fall 2012), a comparison will be made between Cuesta College and UC-Davis FCI post-tests, along with their pre- to post-test gains.

D. Hestenes, M. Wells, and G. Swackhamer, Arizona State University, "Force Concept Inventory," Phys. Teach. 30, 141-158 (1992).
Development of the FCI, a 30-question survey of basic Newtonian mechanics concepts.

Previous FCI results:
at

1 comment:

  1. Patrick M. Len12:48 PM

    Student's t-Test: Results

    The results of an unpaired t-test performed at 14:38 on 24-AUG-2012

    t= 0.748
    sdev= 4.63
    degrees of freedom =144 The probability of this result, assuming the null hypothesis, is 0.46

    Group A: Number of items= 70
    0.00 3.00 4.00 4.00 4.00 4.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 6.00 6.00 6.00 6.00 6.00 6.00 7.00 7.00 7.00 7.00 7.00 7.00 7.00 7.00 8.00 8.00 8.00 8.00 8.00 8.00 8.00 8.00 8.00 8.00 9.00 9.00 9.00 9.00 9.00 9.00 9.00 9.00 9.00 10.0 10.0 10.0 10.0 10.0 11.0 11.0 11.0 11.0 11.0 12.0 12.0 12.0 12.0 14.0 14.0 14.0 14.0 15.0 17.0 19.0 21.0 22.0 23.0 23.0 26.0

    Mean = 9.60
    95% confidence interval for Mean: 8.507 thru 10.69
    Standard Deviation = 5.00
    Hi = 26.0 Low = 0.00
    Median = 8.50
    Average Absolute Deviation from Median = 3.43

    Group B: Number of items= 76
    2.00 2.00 3.00 3.00 4.00 4.00 4.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 6.00 6.00 6.00 6.00 6.00 6.00 6.00 6.00 6.00 6.00 7.00 7.00 7.00 7.00 7.00 7.00 7.00 8.00 8.00 8.00 8.00 8.00 8.00 8.00 8.00 8.00 8.00 8.00 9.00 9.00 9.00 9.00 9.00 9.00 9.00 9.00 9.00 10.0 10.0 10.0 10.0 10.0 10.0 11.0 11.0 11.0 11.0 11.0 11.0 12.0 12.0 13.0 14.0 14.0 14.0 14.0 15.0 15.0 15.0 15.0 16.0 18.0 21.0 27.0

    Mean = 9.03
    95% confidence interval for Mean: 7.977 thru 10.08
    Standard Deviation = 4.26
    Hi = 27.0 Low = 2.00
    Median = 8.00
    Average Absolute Deviation from Median = 3.03

    ReplyDelete