Does the introduction of Non-Traditional Teaching Techniques Improve Psychology Undergraduates' Performance in Statistics?

Abstract

We report a study in which five non-traditional teaching techniques were applied to an introductory statistics course for psychology undergraduates: active and implicit learning, use of breaks, mastery learning, peer tutoring and problem-based learning. Collectively, these techniques improved students' scores in a statistics examination by ten percent compared with a matched control group and this improvement was statistically significant. Students' responses to the new course were positive.