PERC 2008 Abstract Detail Page
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| Abstract Title: | The Difficulties in Turning Students into Numbers |
|---|---|
| Abstract: | While the qualitative classification of student responses is often practiced within PER, quantitative methods open up a large set of analysis tools that are unavailable to qualitative methods. However, since PER data is based on student responses, there are often several difficulties that arise in taking those responses and turning them into quantitative measures. Using methods and tools from the field of classification (data mining), we look at how the type of question being asked (e.g., multiple choice, free response, ranking task) determines what kind of measurement can appropriately be made and how that in turn effects the mathematics of comparison. We also examine the extent to which, when using a hierarchical clustering method, the resolution of quantitative ties – responses that are determined to be "equidistant" to more than one classification category – leads to changes in the final classification. |
| Abstract Type: | Contributed Poster |
Author/Organizer Information | |
| Primary Contact: |
R. Padraic Springuel University of Maine 5709 Bennett Hall University of Maine Orono, ME 04469 |
| Co-Author(s) and Co-Presenter(s) |
John R. Thompson, University of Maine; Michael C. Wittmann, University of Maine |
