Survey Methods
Appendix A3: Study Methods for Student Surveys A3.1 Introduction
We used two survey instruments to measure student outcomes from inquiry-based learning in undergraduate mathematics and to compare these outcomes between various student groups, in particular, between IBL and non-IBL students. The attitudinal survey was designed to detect the quality of and changes in students’ mathematical beliefs, affect, learning goals, and mathematical problem-solving strategies. The learning gains survey (SALG-M) measured students’ experiences of class activities and their cognitive, affective and social gains from a college mathematics class. The surveys addressed the following questions • • • • • What learning gains do students report from an IBL mathematics class? How do students experience IBL class activities? How do students’ class experiences account for their gains? What kind of beliefs, affect, goals and strategies do IBL students report at the start of a mathematics course? How do these approaches change during a college mathematics course? How do these changes relate to or explain students’ learning gains? For each of these outcomes—learning gains, experiences, attitudinal measures, and changes—how do the outcomes for IBL students differ from those of non-IBL students, and among IBL student sub-groups?
The survey instruments provided us with large student data sets from four campuses, gathered during the two academic years 2008-2010. They offered us a comprehensive picture of students’ approaches to learning college mathematics as well as of their experiences and gains from IBL classes. Moreover, the survey data could be used to analyze differences in reported learning approaches, classroom experiences and learning outcomes among various student groups. In addition to structured questions, students also could write about their experiences and gains in the open-ended survey questions. Both the open-ended survey answers and student interview data were used to
We used two survey instruments to measure student outcomes from inquiry-based learning in undergraduate mathematics and to compare these outcomes between various student groups, in particular, between IBL and non-IBL students. The attitudinal survey was designed to detect the quality of and changes in students’ mathematical beliefs, affect, learning goals, and mathematical problem-solving strategies. The learning gains survey (SALG-M) measured students’ experiences of class activities and their cognitive, affective and social gains from a college mathematics class. The surveys addressed the following questions • • • • • What learning gains do students report from an IBL mathematics class? How do students experience IBL class activities? How do students’ class experiences account for their gains? What kind of beliefs, affect, goals and strategies do IBL students report at the start of a mathematics course? How do these approaches change during a college mathematics course? How do these changes relate to or explain students’ learning gains? For each of these outcomes—learning gains, experiences, attitudinal measures, and changes—how do the outcomes for IBL students differ from those of non-IBL students, and among IBL student sub-groups?
The survey instruments provided us with large student data sets from four campuses, gathered during the two academic years 2008-2010. They offered us a comprehensive picture of students’ approaches to learning college mathematics as well as of their experiences and gains from IBL classes. Moreover, the survey data could be used to analyze differences in reported learning approaches, classroom experiences and learning outcomes among various student groups. In addition to structured questions, students also could write about their experiences and gains in the open-ended survey questions. Both the open-ended survey answers and student interview data were used to