Effectiveness of Instructional Techniques to Create Retainable

Quantitative Skills

Kathy BaughmanAssistant Professor of Accounting

Wei-Chung WangAssistant Professor of Economics

• Motivation of the Study• Quantitative Requirements in the Business

Curriculum at Juniata College• Literature Review• Current Experiment Design and Progress• Preliminary Results from Fall 2014• Discussion on Challenges and Next Steps

Overview

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• Calculus I or Quantitative Business Analysis (QBA)• QBA had been considered by students as a course

designed for students that have less aptitude in math

• For certain majors we require or recommend students to take more numerical courses (i.e. Accounting, Economics, Finance)

• Self-selection problem

Quantitative Requirements for Business Majors

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• Algebra based, 200-level course• Course contents

– Module 1: Review of Math and Descriptive Stats– Module 2-4: Business Context

• No calculator policy, techniques demonstrated for efficiency

• In-class practice problems, homework assignments• Speed and accuracy • Course reputation

QBA Design

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Importance of Cognitive Understanding of Math Relations

• 200-level required course for ALL business majors• Course with heavy use of numbers• QBA first then MA or the other way around• Some students take calculus instead of QBA• Memo writing requirements• Anecdotal evidence showed students with QBA

experience perform better in MA and other courses

Managerial Accounting

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• Does changing the instructional technique help students retain numerical sense?

• Does the improved skill transfer to other quantitative courses in the curriculum?

• Does the change in instruction cause any change in student perception of their math/numerical abilities?

Research Questions

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• Estimation vs. Accuracy• Control Group• Self-reported Attitude Assessment

Noteworthy Points

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• Circle one that best describes your belief in the use of calculators:

a. Being able to do arithmetic problems in my head is an important business skill

b. Given how common calculators are, it is silly to worry about being able to do arithmetic in my head

c. Being able to do arithmetic problems in my head will give me a competitive advantage in finding a job

d. I hate math

Aptitude Question in Pre Test

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• Literature focuses on studying the effect of calculators use at the grade level

• Some found the use of calculators stimulates pupils to think about approaches to problems (Wheatley 1980)

• Others argued the students’ performances are more strongly associated with curricular experience than with number concept attainment (Ruthven 2006)‐

Literature Review

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• Researchers have also presented conflicting findings about whether allowing the use of calculators changes the difficulty of mathematics tests (Loyd 1991)

• Some even argued that the effects of calculator use could be either present or absent in both difficult and easy mathematical test questions (Bridgeman, Harvey, Braswell 2005).

• No research has been done particularly at creating business numerical sense without calculation tools

Literature Review (Cont’d)

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• Lack of longitudinal data – only Fall 2014 at the moment

• Speed vs. Accuracy – how do we put the idea into a test

• Estimation is or is not numerical sense• Differentiate between numerical sense and reading

comprehension

Challenges

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• 17 business math questions given to QBA students in the beginning and the end of the semester

• Time limit is 20 mins• Include aptitude and demographic questions in the pre test• Only alternate the order of questions for the test in the end

of the semester• Same test given to Managerial Acct. students• Some questions only ask students to provide estimates.

Most involve reading

Test Design

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• In QBA, post test results show significant improvement in both accuracy and speed

• Average numbers of Correct improve from 7.3 to 11.1 (out of 17)

• Average numbers of Not Attempt improve from 3.3 to 1• 16 out of 27 students finished the post test less than the

allowed time (20 mins)• Only 5 out of 27 in MA took QBA before, their results show

no difference than those who didn’t take QBA• For these 5, calculators were removed but no instructional

technique was introduced (taught by adjunct)

Preliminary Results from Fall 2014

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• Enriching the study with external data (SAT , GPA etc.)

• Solving reading comprehension by introducing audio/visual tests

• Creating a control group of business majors who have chosen to take Calculus instead of QBA

Next Steps

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Questions?