Education research: SPCI statistics (fall semester 2014)

Students at Cuesta College (San Luis Obispo, CA) were administered the Star Properties Concept Inventory (SPCI version 3.0, developed by Janelle Bailey, University of Nevada-Las Vegas) during the first and the last week of instruction. Astronomy 210 is a one-semester introductory general science course, with a separate optional adjunct laboratory (Astronomy 210L).

The pre- to post-test gain for this semester at Cuesta College (excluding students with negative informed consent forms (*.pdf), and missing pre- or post-tests) is:

Astronomy 210 fall semester 2014 sections 70158, 70160
N = 74 (matched-pairs)
<initial%>	= 34% ± 15%
<final%>	= 60% ± 16%
<g>	= 0.39 ± 0.22 (matched-pairs); 0.39 (class-wise)

This semester's SPCI pre- and post-instruction scores are slightly higher than results from previous semesters at Cuesta College, and this semester's gain is much higher than those in previous semesters.