Online Senior Assessment 2010: Social and Behavioral Sciences
Introduction
The sixth component of the OSA contains questions for the Social and Behavioral
Sciences core. The first questions ask the participants about how they fulfilled their
Social and Behavioral Sciences core requirement.
The following table shows the number and percentage of participants that selected each
response to the first question regarding where students took their core curriculum
course. The number of participants selecting each response adds up to more than the
755 total participants because those who did not select “I took my core curriculum class
in social and behavioral sciences at Tech” could select more than one of the other
responses.
Office of Planning and Assessment, Devin DuPree and Sabrina Sattler, July 2010
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Online Senior Assessment 2010: Social and Behavioral Sciences
How did you complete your core curriculum requirement in Social and Behavioral Sciences?
% of all
% of all
Response
N
Responses
Participants
I took an individual and group behavior core
44
5.7%
5.8%
curriculum class through dual credit in high school.
I took an advanced placement social and behavioral
30
3.9%
4.0%
sciences core curriculum class in high school.
I took a CLEP exam for social and behavioral
5
0.6%
0.7%
sciences core curriculum credit.
I received transfer core curriculum social and
behavioral sciences credit for a class that I took at
249
32.0%
33.0%
another institution.
I took my core curriculum class in social and
450
57.8%
59.6%
behavioral sciences at Tech.
Total Responses
755
100.0%
For the analysis in this report the 755 participants are divided into the “TTU” group and
the “ELSE” group. The TTU group represents the 450 participants (i.e., 59.6%) who
selected “I took my core curriculum class in social and behavioral sciences at Tech” and
the ELSE group represents the 305 participants (i.e., 40.4%) who selected one or more
of the other responses indicating that they took their core curriculum class in the Social
and Behavioral Sciences elsewhere. The following pie chart shows this division of the
sample.
Social/Behavioral
305 (40.4%)
TTU
450 (59.6%)
ELSE
The 305 participants in the ELSE group were also asked if the class they took outside of
Tech counted for their core curriculum credit. Of the 305 participants who reported
taking a Social and Behavioral Sciences course elsewhere, 10 (i.e., 3.3%) reported that
they did not know if the course counted for their Social and Behavioral Sciences core
curriculum credit and 295 (i.e., 96.7%) reported that the course did count for their Social
and Behavioral Sciences core curriculum credit. The 295 participants who reported that
the course taken outside of Tech did count for their Social and Behavioral Sciences
core curriculum credit were also asked which one counted. The following table shows
the number and percentage of the 295 participants who selected each response.
Office of Planning and Assessment, Devin DuPree and Sabrina Sattler, July 2010
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Online Senior Assessment 2010: Social and Behavioral Sciences
Which one?
Response
A dual credit class.
An advanced placement class.
A CLEP exam.
A class I took at another institution.
I don't know.
Total
N
%
40
13.6%
19
6.4%
2
0.7%
229
77.6%
5
1.7%
295 100.0%
The system stores some data for each of the participants and so it was possible to
identify the respondents who major in the Social and Behavioral Sciences. The following
majors were identified and classified as Social and Behavioral Sciences majors:
Anthropology; Community, Family, and Addiction Studies; Communication Studies;
Economics; Exercise and Sport Science; Geography; Human Development and Family
Studies; Health; International Economics; Mass Communications; Political Science;
Psychology; Sociology; and Social Work. These participants represent the so-called
“experts” in the sample. The following table shows that there were a total of 146 Social
and Behavioral Sciences majors in the OSA sample. It also displays how many
participants were in each of the Social and Behavioral Sciences majors.
Social and Behavioral Sciences Majors
Major
Frequency Percentage
Anthropology
6
4.1%
Community Family Addiction Studies
3
2.1%
Communication Studies
7
4.8%
Economics
2
1.4%
Exercise and Sport Science
29
19.9%
Geography
2
1.4%
Human Development and Family Studies
25
17.1%
Health
1
0.7%
International Economics
3
2.1%
Mass Communications
2
1.4%
Political Science
15
10.3%
Psychology
33
22.6%
Sociology
11
7.5%
Social Work
7
4.8%
Total
146
100.0%
Office of Planning and Assessment, Devin DuPree and Sabrina Sattler, July 2010
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Online Senior Assessment 2010: Social and Behavioral Sciences
Results
The student learning outcomes for the Social and Behavioral Sciences are:
To identify and critique alternative explanations for claims about social issues
and human behavior.
To recognize the appropriate methods, technologies, and data that social and
behavioral scientists use to investigate the human condition.
To identify and appreciate differences and commonalities between cultures.
To demonstrate knowledge of the origins and evolution of U.S. and Texas
political systems.
The first student learning outcome aligns well with questions 1, 4, and 5. The second
learning outcome aligns well with questions 2, 3, and 4. The third learning outcome
does not clearly align with any of the assessment questions. The fourth learning
outcome aligns well with question 6 through 10.
The Social and Behavioral Sciences portion of the assessment contains ten knowledge
questions. These are shown below as a screenshot from the actual instrument. For
analysis purposes, the answers were coded from 1 to 4 in the order they appear on the
actual instrument. Attachment D shows how many times each answer choice was
selected by the different participants for all of the Social and Behavioral Sciences
questions.
Office of Planning and Assessment, Devin DuPree and Sabrina Sattler, July 2010
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Online Senior Assessment 2010: Social and Behavioral Sciences
Office of Planning and Assessment, Devin DuPree and Sabrina Sattler, July 2010
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Online Senior Assessment 2010: Social and Behavioral Sciences
Office of Planning and Assessment, Devin DuPree and Sabrina Sattler, July 2010
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Online Senior Assessment 2010: Social and Behavioral Sciences
Social and Behavioral Sciences 1:
The chart below shows the distributions of answers for the first question for participants
who took their class for the Social and Behavioral Sciences core requirement at TTU
(blue) and participants who took their class for the Social and Behavioral Sciences core
requirement elsewhere (red). Answer 3 is the correct choice. It can be seen that the
majority of both groups chose the correct answer. Overall, a few more people in the
TTU group chose the correct answer as compared to the ELSE group (73.3% vs.
66.6%). This difference is statistically significant at the 0.05 level (see attachment A for
details). This suggests that on average students who take their class for the Social and
Behavioral Sciences core requirement at TTU do significantly better with this question
than the students who take it elsewhere. Since the first question aligns with the first
learning outcome, this suggests that on average students who take their Social and
Behavioral Sciences course at TTU may be meeting this learning outcome more than
students who take their course elsewhere.
Social and Behavioral Sciences 1
80.0%
73.3%
66.6%
70.0%
60.0%
50.0%
40.0%
TTU
30.0%
ELSE
20.0%
10.0%
14.4%
16.0% 16.7%
7.8%
2.9% 2.3%
0.0%
1
2
3
4
Office of Planning and Assessment, Devin DuPree and Sabrina Sattler, July 2010
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Online Senior Assessment 2010: Social and Behavioral Sciences
Social and Behavioral Sciences 2:
The chart below shows the distributions of answers for the second question for
participants who took their class for the Social and Behavioral Sciences core
requirement at TTU (blue) and participants who took their class for the Social and
Behavioral Sciences core requirement elsewhere (red). Answer 1 is the correct choice.
It can be seen that the majority of both groups chose the correct answer. Overall, a few
more people in the TTU group chose the correct answer as compared to the ELSE
group (74.7% vs. 73.1%). This difference is not statistically significant at the 0.05 level
(see attachment A for details). This means that on average students who take their
class for the Social and Behavioral Sciences core requirement at TTU do not do
significantly better with this question than the students who take their Social and
Behavioral Sciences class elsewhere. Since the second question aligns with the
second learning outcome, this suggests that on average students who take their Social
and Behavioral Sciences course at TTU may be meeting this learning outcome similar
to students who take their course elsewhere.
Social and Behavioral Sciences 2
80.0%
74.7% 73.1%
70.0%
60.0%
50.0%
40.0%
TTU
30.0%
ELSE
20.0%
10.2% 10.8%
10.0%
9.6% 11.5%
5.6% 4.6%
0.0%
1
2
3
4
Office of Planning and Assessment, Devin DuPree and Sabrina Sattler, July 2010
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Online Senior Assessment 2010: Social and Behavioral Sciences
Social and Behavioral Sciences 3:
The chart below shows the distributions of answers for the third question for participants
who took their class for the Social and Behavioral Sciences core requirement at TTU
(blue) and participants who took their class for the Social and Behavioral Sciences core
requirement elsewhere (red). Answer 2 is the correct choice. It can be seen that less
than half of both groups chose the correct answer. Overall, a few more people in the
TTU group chose the correct answer as compared to the ELSE group (40.0% vs.
39.0%). This difference is not statistically significant at the 0.05 level (see attachment A
for details). This means that on average students who take their class for the Social and
Behavioral Sciences core requirement at TTU do not do significantly better with this
question than the students who take their Social and Behavioral Sciences class
elsewhere. Since the third question aligns with the second learning outcome, this
suggests that on average students who take their Social and Behavioral Sciences
course at TTU may be meeting this learning outcome similar to students who take their
course elsewhere.
Social and Behavioral Sciences 3
50.0%
46.4% 46.9%
45.0%
40.0% 39.0%
40.0%
35.0%
30.0%
25.0%
TTU
20.0%
ELSE
15.0%
8.9% 8.9%
10.0%
4.7% 5.2%
5.0%
0.0%
1
2
3
4
Office of Planning and Assessment, Devin DuPree and Sabrina Sattler, July 2010
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Online Senior Assessment 2010: Social and Behavioral Sciences
Social and Behavioral Sciences 4:
The chart below shows the distributions of answers for the fourth question for
participants who took their class for the Social and Behavioral Sciences core
requirement at TTU (blue) and participants who took their class for the Social and
Behavioral Sciences core requirement elsewhere (red). Answer 4 is the correct choice.
It can be seen that less than a fourth of both groups chose the correct answer. This
could indicate a lack of understanding in this area. However, it could also mean that this
question is too difficult or that answer choices are too similar. Overall, a few more
people in the ELSE group chose the correct answer as compared to the TTU group
(24.9% vs. 22.0%). This difference is not statistically significant at the 0.05 level (see
attachment A for details). This means that on average students who take their class for
the Social and Behavioral Sciences core requirement at TTU do not do significantly
better with this question than the students who take their Social and Behavioral
Sciences class elsewhere. Since the fourth question aligns with the first and second
learning outcomes, this suggests that on average students who take their Social and
Behavioral Sciences course at TTU may be meeting these learning outcomes similar to
students who take their course elsewhere. Neither group performed well on this
question.
Social and Behavioral Sciences 4
33.1%
35.0%
29.1%
30.0%
28.0%
22.0%
20.9%
20.0%
24.9%
24.3%
25.0%
17.7%
TTU
15.0%
ELSE
10.0%
5.0%
0.0%
1
2
3
4
Office of Planning and Assessment, Devin DuPree and Sabrina Sattler, July 2010
Page 10 of 25
Online Senior Assessment 2010: Social and Behavioral Sciences
Social and Behavioral Sciences 5:
The chart below shows the distributions of answers for the fifth question for participants
who took their class for the Social and Behavioral Sciences core requirement at TTU
(blue) and participants who took their class for the Social and Behavioral Sciences core
requirement elsewhere (red). Answer 3 is the correct choice. It can be seen that less
than half of both groups chose the correct answer. As with question 4, this could
indicate a lack of student knowledge in this area or the question could have been too
difficult. Overall, a few more people in the TTU group chose the correct answer as
compared to the ELSE group (35.1% vs. 33.1%). This difference is not statistically
significant at the 0.05 level (see attachment A for details). This means that on average
students who take their class for the Social and Behavioral Sciences core requirement
at TTU do not do significantly better with this question than the students who take their
Social and Behavioral Sciences class elsewhere. Since the fifth question aligns with the
first learning outcome, this suggests that on average students who take their Social and
Behavioral Sciences course at TTU may be meeting this learning outcome similar to
students who take their course elsewhere.
Social and Behavioral Sciences 5
40.0%
35.1%
35.0%
30.0%
25.0%
33.1%
26.9%
24.4%
21.6% 20.7%
18.9% 19.3%
20.0%
TTU
ELSE
15.0%
10.0%
5.0%
0.0%
1
2
3
4
Office of Planning and Assessment, Devin DuPree and Sabrina Sattler, July 2010
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Online Senior Assessment 2010: Social and Behavioral Sciences
Social and Behavioral Sciences 6:
The chart below shows the distributions of answers for the sixth question for participants
who took their class for the Social and Behavioral Sciences core requirement at TTU
(blue) and participants who took their class for the Social and Behavioral Sciences core
requirement elsewhere (red). Answer 1 is the correct choice. It can be seen that just
over half of both groups chose the correct answer. Overall, a few more people in the
ELSE group chose the correct answer as compared to the TTU group (58.4% vs.
54.7%). This difference is not statistically significant at the 0.05 level (see attachment A
for details). This means that on average students who take their class for the Social and
Behavioral Sciences core requirement elsewhere do not do significantly better with this
question than the students who take their Social and Behavioral Sciences class at TTU.
Since the sixth question aligns with the fourth learning outcome, this suggests that on
average students who take their Social and Behavioral Sciences course elsewhere may
be meeting this learning outcome similar to students who take their course at TTU.
Social and Behavioral Sciences 6
70.0%
60.0%
54.7%
58.4%
50.0%
40.0%
TTU
30.0%
24.9% 24.3%
ELSE
20.0%
15.6% 13.8%
10.0%
4.9% 3.6%
0.0%
1
2
3
4
Office of Planning and Assessment, Devin DuPree and Sabrina Sattler, July 2010
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Online Senior Assessment 2010: Social and Behavioral Sciences
Social and Behavioral Sciences 7:
The chart below shows the distributions of answers for the seventh question for
participants who took their class for the Social and Behavioral Sciences core
requirement at TTU (blue) and participants who took their class for the Social and
Behavioral Sciences core requirement elsewhere (red). Answer 2 is the correct choice.
It can be seen that less than half of both groups chose the correct answer. The fact that
so many students chose the same wrong answer (i.e., answer 1) might point to a
problem area for the students or could indicate a problematic question. Overall, a few
more people in the ELSE group chose the correct answer as compared to the TTU
group (42.6% vs. 36.4%). This difference is not statistically significant at the 0.05 level
(see attachment A for details). This means that on average students who take their
class for the Social and Behavioral Sciences core requirement elsewhere do not do
significantly better with this question than the students who take their Social and
Behavioral Sciences class at TTU. Since the seventh question aligns with the fourth
learning outcome, this suggests that on average students who take their Social and
Behavioral Sciences course elsewhere may be meeting this learning outcome similar to
students who take their course at TTU.
Social and Behavioral Sciences 7
42.6%
45.0%
40.0%
35.0%
38.0%
36.4%
30.8%
30.0%
25.0%
TTU
20.0%
12.9%
15.0%
11.5%
12.7%
15.1%
ELSE
10.0%
5.0%
0.0%
1
2
3
4
Office of Planning and Assessment, Devin DuPree and Sabrina Sattler, July 2010
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Online Senior Assessment 2010: Social and Behavioral Sciences
Social and Behavioral Sciences 8:
The chart below shows the distributions of answers for the eighth question for
participants who took their class for the Social and Behavioral Sciences core
requirement at TTU (blue) and participants who took their class for the Social and
Behavioral Sciences core requirement elsewhere (red). Answer 1 is the correct choice.
It can be seen that around half of both groups chose the correct answer. Overall, a few
more people in the ELSE group chose the correct answer as compared to the TTU
group (53.4% vs. 47.3%). This difference is not statistically significant at the 0.05 level
(see attachment A for details). This means that on average students who take their
class for the Social and Behavioral Sciences core requirement elsewhere do not do
significantly better with this question than the students who take their Social and
Behavioral Sciences class at TTU. Since the eighth question aligns with the fourth
learning outcome, this suggests that on average students who take their Social and
Behavioral Sciences course elsewhere may be meeting this learning outcome similar to
students who take their course at TTU.
Social and Behavioral Sciences 8
60.0%
50.0%
53.4%
47.3%
40.0%
30.0%
25.3% 25.9%
TTU
23.8%
ELSE
18.7%
20.0%
10.0%
3.6% 2.0%
0.0%
1
2
3
4
Office of Planning and Assessment, Devin DuPree and Sabrina Sattler, July 2010
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Online Senior Assessment 2010: Social and Behavioral Sciences
Social and Behavioral Sciences 9:
The chart below shows the distributions of answers for the ninth question for
participants who took their class for the Social and Behavioral Sciences core
requirement at TTU (blue) and participants who took their class for the Social and
Behavioral Sciences core requirement elsewhere (red). Answer 2 is the correct choice.
It can be seen that a large majority of both groups chose the correct answer, which may
mean that this question is too easy to be a good discriminator of Social and Behavioral
Sciences knowledge. Overall, a few more people in the TTU group chose the correct
answer as compared to the ELSE group (97.8% vs. 97.0%). This difference is not
statistically significant at the 0.05 level (see attachment A for details). This means that
on average students who take their class for the Social and Behavioral Sciences core
requirement at TTU do not do significantly better with this question than the students
who take their Social and Behavioral Sciences class elsewhere. Since the ninth
question aligns with the fourth learning outcome, this suggests that on average students
who take their Social and Behavioral Sciences course at TTU may be meeting this
learning outcome similar to students who take their course elsewhere.
Social and Behavioral Sciences 9
97.8% 97.0%
100.0%
90.0%
80.0%
70.0%
60.0%
50.0%
TTU
40.0%
ELSE
30.0%
20.0%
10.0%
0.9% 1.6%
0.7% 0.0%
0.7% 1.3%
3
4
0.0%
1
2
Office of Planning and Assessment, Devin DuPree and Sabrina Sattler, July 2010
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Online Senior Assessment 2010: Social and Behavioral Sciences
Social and Behavioral Sciences 10:
The chart below shows the distributions of answers for the tenth question for
participants who took their class for the Social and Behavioral Sciences core
requirement at TTU (blue) and participants who took their class for the Social and
Behavioral Sciences core requirement elsewhere (red). Answer 1 is the correct choice.
It can be seen that over half of both groups chose the correct answer. Overall, a few
more people in the ELSE group chose the correct answer as compared to the TTU
group (64.9% vs. 58.9%). This difference is not statistically significant at the 0.05 level
(see attachment A for details). This means that on average students who take their
class for the Social and Behavioral Sciences core requirement elsewhere do not do
significantly better with this question than the students who take their Social and
Behavioral Sciences class at TTU. Since the tenth question aligns with the fourth
learning outcome, this suggests that on average students who take their Social and
Behavioral Sciences course elsewhere may be meeting this learning outcome similar to
students who take their course at TTU.
Social and Behavioral Sciences 10
70.0%
60.0%
64.9%
58.9%
50.0%
40.0%
30.7%
30.0%
TTU
26.9%
ELSE
20.0%
8.7% 7.5%
10.0%
1.8% 0.7%
0.0%
1
2
3
4
Office of Planning and Assessment, Devin DuPree and Sabrina Sattler, July 2010
Page 16 of 25
Online Senior Assessment 2010: Social and Behavioral Sciences
Social and Behavioral Sciences Average:
The table below compares the differences between TTU and ELSE when the results for
all the questions are averaged (e.g., if a student got 8 out of the 10 questions correct,
his score will be 8/10 = .80). Both groups have low means around 50%. The mean is
slightly higher for students who took their core requirement for the Social and
Behavioral Sciences elsewhere. However, this difference is not statistically significant at
the 0.05 level. This means that on average TTU performs about the same as ELSE on
the Social and Behavioral Sciences section of the OSA.
N
Social/Behavioral
Overall
Core at TTU
Mean
SD
450
54.0%
N
16.7%
Core Elsewhere
Mean
SD
305
55.3%
T-stat
16.8%
-1.039
P-value
0.299
The chart below shows the distributions of the average scores for participants who took
their class for the Social and Behavioral core requirement at TTU (blue) and participants
who took their class for the Social and Behavioral Sciences core requirement elsewhere
(red). The distributions are similar, but it looks like there are a few more in the ELSE
group answering more than half of the questions correctly and that there are a few more
in the TTU group answering less than half of the questions correctly.
Social and Behavioral Sciences Overall: TTU vs. ELSE
30.0%
24.3%
22.7%
21.3%
24.0%
25.0%
18.7%
16.4%
20.0%
15.7%
15.0%
13.1%
TTU
ELSE
10.0%
8.2%
6.4%
7.3%
6.2%
5.0%
1.3%
0.0%
0.0% 0.7%
3.8%
3.0%
3.6%
2.2%
0.7%
0.4%
0.0%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Office of Planning and Assessment, Devin DuPree and Sabrina Sattler, July 2010
Page 17 of 25
Online Senior Assessment 2010: Social and Behavioral Sciences
The table below shows a comparison of the average scores for the participants
selecting each course option within the ELSE group (those selecting more than one
course option were excluded from the analysis). The table includes the F value and P
value for an analysis of variance comparing the means. Although the table shows
information for all four ELSE options, the group with less than 15 participants (CLEP
Exam) was excluded from the analysis of variance.
Elsewhere
Dual Credit
Advanced Placement
CLEP Exam
Another Institution
Total
N
29
17
2
236
284
Mean
58.6%
61.8%
60.0%
54.1%
55.0%
St. Dev.
15.5%
21.0%
14.1%
16.9%
17.1%
F-value
2.357
P-value
0.097
Based on the mean, students who took their Social and Behavioral Sciences course
through advanced placement are the highest-performing group and students who took
their course at another institution are the lowest performing group. The means are not
significantly different at the 0.05 level though. While this might be due to the small
sample size of some of the groups, it suggests that on average students who take their
Social and Behavioral Sciences course elsewhere perform similarly on the Social and
Behavioral Sciences section of the OSA regardless of where they took their Social and
Behavioral Sciences course.
Office of Planning and Assessment, Devin DuPree and Sabrina Sattler, July 2010
Page 18 of 25
Online Senior Assessment 2010: Social and Behavioral Sciences
The chart below shows the distributions of the average scores for those participants
who are majoring in the Social and Behavioral Sciences (blue) and participants who are
not majoring in the Social and Behavioral Sciences (red). The distributions appear fairly
similar with a few more Non-majors answering more than half of the questions correctly.
Overall, the Non-majors have a slightly higher average than the Majors (54.8% vs.
53.6%). This difference is not statistically significant at the .05 level (see attachment B
for details). This means that on average the Non-majors perform similarly to the Majors
on the Social and Behavioral Sciences section of the OSA.
Social and Behavioral Sciences Overall: Majors vs. Non-majors
30.0%
25.0%
22.1%
20.0%
23.1%
17.7%
14.6%
15.0%
Majors
Non-Majors
10.0%
7.5%
6.4%
5.0%
3.5%
3.1%
0.0%
1.3%
0.6%
0.0%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Office of Planning and Assessment, Devin DuPree and Sabrina Sattler, July 2010
Page 19 of 25
Online Senior Assessment 2010: Social and Behavioral Sciences
The chart below shows the distributions of the average scores for the female
participants (blue) and the male participants (red). The male participants had higher
overall scores than the female participants (mean of 56.8% vs. 53.0%). This is
significant at the 0.05 level (see attachment C). This suggests that on average male
students do better with the Social and Behavioral Sciences section of the OSA. It
appears in the chart below that the significant difference in average scores of the female
and male participants is due to more male participants answering more than half of the
questions correctly and more female participants answering less than half of the
questions correctly.
Social and Behavioral Sciences Overall by Sex
30.0%
27.2%
25.0%
23.4%
23.1%
19.5%
20.0%
17.9%
17.0%
15.1%
15.0%
11.6%
Female
10.6%
Male
10.0%
7.7%
5.8%
3.2%
5.0%
1.9%2.5%
0.5%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0%
10%
20%
30%
4.8%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
4.8%
2.5%
0.7%
0.3%
90%
100%
Office of Planning and Assessment, Devin DuPree and Sabrina Sattler, July 2010
Page 20 of 25
Online Senior Assessment 2010: Social and Behavioral Sciences
The following table shows the correlations between the overall average for the Social
and Behavioral Sciences questions and time to complete OSA, GPA, SAT score, ACT
score, transfer credits, total credits earned, and age (p-values for the correlations are in
parenthesis). The correlations with time to complete OSA, GPA, SAT score, and ACT
score are significant at the 0.05 level. These correlations suggest that on average
students who took less time to complete the OSA, students with higher GPA’s, students
with higher SAT scores, and students with higher ACT scores do better on the Social
and Behavioral Sciences section of the OSA. Some of these correlations are small and
are more likely to be found statistically significant because of the large sample size.
Social/Behavioral
Overall
Correlation
P-value
N
Time
-0.103
(0.005)
755
GPA
0.154
(<0.001)
755
SAT
0.404
(<0.001)
511
ACT
0.281
(<0.001)
388
Transfer Total
Credits Credits
Age
-0.010
0.031
0.042
(0.792) (0.394) (0.248)
755
755
755
The following tables show the results of regression models for the overall average for
the Social and Behavioral Sciences questions including all of the variables that have
been explored in this analysis. There are three separate regression models because
not all of the participants have an SAT score and ACT score. Since most students either
have an SAT score or an ACT score, there would be too many missing values if both
scores were included in the same regression model. The first model excludes both in
order to include most respondents in the analysis.
Social/Behavioral Model 1
N
F
P-value
753
5.64
< 0.001
Variable
Coefficient P-value
Intercept
0.375 < 0.001
Time
-0.000030
0.006
Sex
-0.043 < 0.001
GPA
0.049 < 0.001
Transfer Credits
-0.00020
0.593
Total Credits
0.00016
0.582
Age
0.0020
0.091
Social/Behavioral Major
-0.005
0.756
Social/Behavioral class taken at TTU
-0.0210
0.161
This first model excludes SAT and ACT score to include 753 of the 755 participants.
The model overall is significant at the 0.05 level (R2 = 0.0571). For this model time to
complete OSA, sex, and GPA are the significant predictors at the 0.05 level for the
overall average for the Social and Behavioral Sciences questions. These predictors
suggest that on average students who take less time to complete the OSA, male
Office of Planning and Assessment, Devin DuPree and Sabrina Sattler, July 2010
Page 21 of 25
Online Senior Assessment 2010: Social and Behavioral Sciences
students, and students with higher GPA’s do better on the Social and Behavioral
Sciences section of the OSA when the other variables in the model are held constant.
Social/Behavioral Model 2
N
F
P-value
511
15.41
< 0.001
Variable
Coefficient P-value
Intercept
-0.127
0.128
Time
-0.000039
0.006
Sex
-0.024
0.085
GPA
0.017
0.186
Transfer Credits
0.00011
0.812
Total Credits
0.000082
0.811
Age
0.0071 < 0.001
Social/Behavioral Major
0.0145
0.398
Social/Behavioral class taken at TTU
-0.029
0.081
SAT
0.00044 < 0.001
This second model includes SAT score and excludes ACT score to include 511 of the
755 participants. The model overall is significant at the 0.05 level (R2 = 0.2168). For
this model time to complete OSA, age, and SAT score are the significant predictors at
the 0.05 level for the overall average for the Social and Behavioral Sciences questions.
These predictors suggest that on average students who take less time to complete the
OSA, older students, and students with higher SAT scores do better on the Social and
Behavioral Sciences section of the OSA when the other variables in the model are held
constant.
Social/Behavioral Model 3
N
F
P-value
387
4.98
< 0.001
Variable
Coefficient P-value
Intercept
0.101
0.317
Time
-0.000022
0.597
Sex
-0.031
0.076
GPA
0.024
0.168
Transfer Credits
-0.00001
0.987
Total Credits
0.00023
0.578
Age
0.0052
0.05
Social/Behavioral Major
0.007
0.754
Social/Behavioral class taken at TTU
-0.017
0.416
ACT
0.011 < 0.001
Office of Planning and Assessment, Devin DuPree and Sabrina Sattler, July 2010
Page 22 of 25
Online Senior Assessment 2010: Social and Behavioral Sciences
This third model includes ACT score and excludes SAT score to include 387 of the 755
participants. The model overall is significant at the 0.05 level (R2 = 0.1062). For this
model, age and ACT score are the significant predictors at the 0.05 level for the overall
average for the Social and Behavioral Sciences questions. These predictors suggest
that on average older students and students with higher ACT scores do better on the
Social and Behavioral Sciences section of the OSA when the other variables in the
model are held constant.
Limitations
It is difficult to measure the breadth of knowledge taught in the Social and Behavioral
Sciences with ten questions. Many of the questions seem to have challenged the
participants. They could either point to a problem area for the students or they could
indicate a problematic question. As mentioned in the results, a few of the questions
may have been too easy to be a good discriminator of Social and Behavioral Science
knowledge. That the Social and Behavioral Sciences majors did not do significantly
better on average than everyone else suggests that the measure may not be capturing
participants’ understanding of the Social and Behavioral Sciences too well. However, it
might also be that a comparatively larger number of the Social and Behavioral Sciences
majors did not take their time with the questions. In this case it would be more a
reflection of the Social and Behavioral Sciences majors and not the questions.
Office of Planning and Assessment, Devin DuPree and Sabrina Sattler, July 2010
Page 23 of 25
Online Senior Assessment 2009: Social and Behavioral Sciences
Attachments
Attachment A: Summary of Chi-Square Tests for Questions 1 – 10
Social/Behavioral 1
Social/Behavioral 2
Social/Behavioral 3
Social/Behavioral 4
Social/Behavioral 5
Social/Behavioral 6
Social/Behavioral 7
Social/Behavioral 8
Social/Behavioral 9
Social/Behavioral 10
TTU
(N=450)
correct incorrect
330
120
336
114
180
270
99
351
158
292
246
204
164
286
213
237
440
10
265
185
Else
(N=295)
correct incorrect
203
102
223
82
119
186
76
229
101
204
178
127
130
175
163
142
296
9
198
107
Chi Statistic
4.02
0.23
0.07
0.87
0.32
1.01
2.92
2.71
0.39
2.79
Chi Probability
0.0449
0.6332
0.7863
0.3511
0.5707
0.3155
0.0876
0.0995
0.5305
0.0951
Attachment B: 2-Sample T-Test for Average Scores of Majors and Non-Majors
N
Social/Behavioral
Overall
146
Majors
Mean
SD
53.6%
N
15.2%
609
Non-Majors
Mean
SD
54.8%
T-stat
17.1%
-0.789
P-value
0.430
Attachment C: 2 Sample T-Test for Average Scores by Sex
N
Social/Behavioral
Overall
441
Female
Mean
SD
53.0%
N
15.5%
312
Male
Mean
SD
56.8%
T-stat
18.1%
-3.106
Office of Planning and Assessment, Devin DuPree and Sabrina Sattler, July 2010
Page 24 of 25
P-value
0.002
Online Senior Assessment 2009: Social and Behavioral Sciences
Attachment D: Number of Participants Selecting Each Answer for Each Question
Social/Behavioral 1
Answer
TTU
ELSE
1
35
44
2
72
51
3
330
203
4
13
7
Social/Behavioral 4
Answer
TTU
ELSE
1
94
54
2
131
101
3
126
74
4
99
76
Social/Behavioral 7
Answer
TTU
ELSE
1
171
94
2
164
130
3
58
35
4
57
46
Social/Behavioral 10
Answer
TTU
ELSE
1
265
198
2
138
82
3
8
2
4
39
23
Social/Behavioral 2
Answer
TTU
ELSE
1
336
223
2
46
33
3
43
35
4
25
14
Social/Behavioral 5
Answer
TTU
ELSE
1
97
63
2
110
82
3
158
101
4
85
59
Social/Behavioral 8
Answer
TTU
ELSE
1
213
163
2
114
79
3
107
57
4
16
6
Social/Behavioral 3
Answer
TTU
ELSE
1
209
143
2
180
119
3
40
27
4
21
16
Social/Behavioral 6
Answer
TTU
ELSE
1
246
178
2
112
74
3
22
11
4
70
42
Social/Behavioral 9
Answer
TTU
ELSE
1
4
5
2
440
296
3
3
0
4
3
4
Office of Planning and Assessment, Devin DuPree and Sabrina Sattler, July 2010
Page 25 of 25