Comparison of Students’ Performance Using Web-Based and Paper-Based Homework in an Undergraduate Statistics Course

Abstract

Our institution is heavily invested in improving the learning outcomes of our students, especially in core courses like statistics which is taken by majority of freshmen students. As such, we have been reviewing our existing pedagogy and exploring novel ways to improve students experience in statistics course. In this study we compare web-based vs paper-based traditional homework models and their impact on students’ performance in an undergraduate statistics course. In web-based model, students used MyStatLab to complete the homework assignments along with additional resources offered by this platform. On the other hand, in paper-based model students used traditional approach in completing the homework and was manually graded by the instructor. Our analysis indicated that there is no statistically significant difference in students’ final course grades between the two modalities. Additionally, we conducted a chi-square test of independence and found no statistically significant relationship between students’ final course grades and homework models. However, our analysis concluded that student performance and perceptions improved with online homework model compared to the traditional model. Keywords: Web-based online homework, Traditional homework, Student performance, Undergraduate Statistics DOI: 10.7176/JEP/13-27-09 Publication date: September 30 th 2022