This 5-year study of graduating seniors at Elon University ( n = 2,058) evaluates the impacts of experiential learning depth (amount of time commitment) and breadth (number of different types of experiences) on student outcomes. Data on study abroad, undergraduate research, internships, service, and leadership experiences were pulled from cocurricular transcripts and paired with responses to the National Survey of Student Engagement. Both depth and breadth were associated with acquiring a broad general education, writing clearly and effectively, contributing to the welfare of communities, relationships with faculty and administration, and desire to attend the same institution. Depth (but not breadth) was associated with higher order thinking (synthesis and application) in the senior year, as well as overall educational experience. Breadth (but not depth) was associated with working effectively with others and better relationships with other students. Overall, key learning outcomes desired for a college student are driven by both experiential learning depth and breadth.
This five-year study of graduating seniors at Elon University (n=1,858) compared student outcomes measured by the National Survey of Student Engagement across five study abroad groups: no study abroad, semester, short-term (3-week), two short-terms, and semester plus short-term. Both short-term and semester programs were positively associated with how students rate their overall educational experience and whether they would attend the same institution again. However, students who participated in semester programs reported better outcomes in numerous categories: contributing to class discussion, including diverse perspectives in discussions and assignments, synthesis of ideas, less rote memorization of course material, empathy,acquiring a broad general education,critical thinking,and working effectively with others. There was less compelling evidence of better outcomes from a second short-term program or one taken in addition to a semester program. Overall, short-term programs clearly have value, but semester programs are associated with significantly better outcomes overall.
This article presents the results of a case study from one professor's experience teaching an introductory statistics course. The goal of this study was to better understand student perceptions of engagement in a statistics course. Voluntary, self-reported data were collected daily for students to evaluate the engagement level of the class that day, and students also identified activities that they considered engaging. A final survey was administered at the end of the semester to provide a holistic, retrospective measure of engagement in the course and to collect feedback on various questions related to perceptions of engagement. Results indicate variation in student engagement scores and variation in engagement scores across the semester indicating some influence of class activity on perceptions of engagement. Perceptions of engagement are contextualized with students' comments from the daily surveys. Associations between engagement and final course grade were also investigated. Student perceptions of engagement were also compared to the professor's perception of engagement for students.
Nonparametric estimators of component and system life distributions are developed and presented for situations where recurrent competing risks data from series systems are available. The use of recurrences of components’ failures leads to improved efficiencies in statistical inference, thereby leading to resource-efficient experimental or study designs or improved inferences about the distributions governing the event times. Finite and asymptotic properties of the estimators are obtained through simulation studies and analytically. The detrimental impact of parametric model misspecification is also vividly demonstrated, lending credence to the virtue of adopting nonparametric or semiparametric models, especially in biomedical settings. The estimators are illustrated by applying them to a data set pertaining to car repairs for vehicles that were under warranty.
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