My article this week is “Learning Statistics at the Farmers Market? A Comparison of Academic Service Learning and Case Studies in an Introductory Statistics Course” and is found at http://www.amstat.org/publications/jse/v18n3/hiedemann.pdf. This was the first article I have read concerning the use of the Academic Service Learning (ASL) concept. Given my doctoral program is focused on community college teaching, this article seemed especially appropriate given the role these colleges play in higher learning and in many local communities.
The study in the article, conducted at Seattle University, compares the use of case studies with the real life situations involved in an ASL. The university has as part of its mission to educate students and give them an appreciation of how their learning is relevant to their chosen professions. Through this study, the researchers looked at two main questions. First, is there a difference in the academic learning between the two approaches as reflected in exam scores? Second, is there a difference in how students feel about the practical use of statistics in their future careers upon completion of the course and the manner in which it was taught?
The introductory statistics course sections were divided in two groups. Half of the sections were conducted using the classical case study method. In this case, that entailed a case study involving perceived discrimination at Wal-Mart. The other sections conducted a real life ALS project involving comparing prices of organic produce at local farmers markets to those at local grocery stores and food cooperatives. The study was done in partnership with the Neighborhood Farmers Market Alliance (NFMA).
The study found that statistically, both approaches did equally well academically. In other words, those who completed the sections with the case study on Wal-Mart did just as well as those students who did the NFMA study. Although the authors did not suggest this, it does make one wonder if the additional time and effort used to develop the ALS project was worth the limited return in academic performance. However, there was a significant difference in how the students perceived the usefulness of the course to the real world. The specific statement students were asked to rate was “I will have no application of statistics in my profession.” Overwhelmingly the students who did the ALS project saw more the applicability of statistics in their future.
From the research, the authors concluded that the difference in how students viewed the application of statistics was in the real-world hands-on nature of the work. They could see firsthand real results for their effort. An analogy to this may be the individual who gives money to support a local charity or food bank, compared to the individual who volunteers their time to deliver and serve meals for these same organizations. In comparing an ALS project with a case study, both are considered effective teaching method, but the ALS project brings the practical use more in focus.
In my recent observations of introductory statistics classes at GMU, I found the classes large and based on a lecture format. Perhaps they may have a case study element which I did not observe at the time. However, imagining the possibilities of implementing an ALS type project in an introductory statistics course is fascinating. In the community college environment this could prove extremely valuable not only to the students, but to the community at large.