Learning to Give Reverse Causality Explanations for Correlations: Still Hard after All These Tries
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| Title: | Learning to Give Reverse Causality Explanations for Correlations: Still Hard after All These Tries |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Sibulkin, Amy E., Butler, J. S. |
| Source: | Teaching of Psychology. Jul 2019 46(3):223-229. |
| Availability: | SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: http://sagepub.com |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 7 |
| Publication Date: | 2019 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Reports - Research |
| Education Level: | Higher Education Postsecondary Education |
| Descriptors: | Correlation, Causal Models, Research Methodology, Social Psychology, Test Items, Critical Thinking, Black Colleges, Performance Based Assessment, Grade Point Average, Accuracy, Familiarity, Undergraduate Students, State Universities, Academic Ability, Difficulty Level |
| Geographic Terms: | Tennessee |
| DOI: | 10.1177/0098628319853936 |
| ISSN: | 0098-6283 |
| Abstract: | After explicit instruction on how to give possible bidirectional (two-way) causality explanations for a correlation, 240 students from eight sections of social psychology and research methods courses wrote "reverse causality" explanations on various test questions, creating a total of 882 answers. Averaging across multiple graded attempts over four semesters, only 45% of the explanations were correct. The highest average for a single question was 67% correct. A regression predicting correct answers showed that students with higher grade point averages (GPAs) were more likely to answer correctly. Controlling for GPA and topic of the correlation, later attempts were significantly more likely to be answered correctly than earlier attempts. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Entry Date: | 2019 |
| Accession Number: | EJ1219355 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | After explicit instruction on how to give possible bidirectional (two-way) causality explanations for a correlation, 240 students from eight sections of social psychology and research methods courses wrote "reverse causality" explanations on various test questions, creating a total of 882 answers. Averaging across multiple graded attempts over four semesters, only 45% of the explanations were correct. The highest average for a single question was 67% correct. A regression predicting correct answers showed that students with higher grade point averages (GPAs) were more likely to answer correctly. Controlling for GPA and topic of the correlation, later attempts were significantly more likely to be answered correctly than earlier attempts. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 0098-6283 |
| DOI: | 10.1177/0098628319853936 |
