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Keywords

first-generation college students, undergraduate statistics education, project-based learning

Abstract

Traditional introductory statistics courses that focus on techniques are not engaging for many college students; this may be especially true for first-generation college students, who generally have more difficulty engaging in the college environment than continuing-generation students. We study first-generation college students’ experiences in a course-based undergraduate research experience called Passion-Driven Statistics. Passion-Driven Statistics is a multidisciplinary, project-based introductory statistics course where students develop their own research topics, analyze publicly available quantitative data, and focus on conceptual understanding of statistics rather than hand calculations. Using pre-course and post-course surveys from students taking Passion-Driven Statistics in colleges throughout the United States, we find both first- and continuing-generation students experienced gains in (1) interest in conducting research, (2) interest in pursuing advanced coursework in statistics, and (3) plans to use statistics in the remainder of their degree programs. These findings demonstrate the benefits of an inquiry-based course to students from different backgrounds. When compared to continuing-generation students, first-generation students were more likely to feel that they spent time doing meaningful research and to feel like they were part of a scientific community. Overall, these results imply potential to reduce social disparities in quantitative skills and related careers.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5038/1936-4660.19.1.1480

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License

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