Document Type

Conference Paper

Rights

This item is available under a Creative Commons License for non-commercial use only

Publication Details

Presented at the Higher Education in Transformation Symposium November 2 - 4, 2016 in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada

Abstract

The Student Learning Centre at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology offers various support services for students enrolled in first year calculus and physics courses; the most widely used of these services are focused workshops. The purpose of this study was to compare student academic performance between those who did and did not attend physics and calculus workshops. Data provided by the Office of Institutional Research and Analysis at UOIT was analyzed using pivot tables in MS Excel. Students enrolled in Physics I and Calculus I were categorized based on their Grade 12 physics and calculus marks, respectively. Students enrolled in Physics II and Calculus II were categorized based on their Physics I and Calculus I marks, respectively. Subgroups were then identified based on workshop attendance and correlated with first year university physics and calculus grades. Students within the same incoming grade category who did not attend any workshops served as the control group. A Pearson’s Chi-square test was used to determine if statistically significant differences existed between the performance of students who attended workshops and those who did not. Analysis found that students who attended workshops had greater success rates in all first year calculus and physics courses compared to their non-workshop attending peers.

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