An approximation of university students' learning ability in the area of probability

Abstract

The objective of this study is to analyze the ability of students of the University Center for the Economic Administrative Sciences which forms part of the University of Guadalajara from different economic-administrative undergraduate programs, to solve distinct problems in the area of probability, applying a multiple-choice instrument aligned to the learning objectives via a qualitative-descriptive methodology. The study comprised a sample of 251 students from 14 different undergraduate degree programs who were enrolled in the same statistics course. Multivariate tests were conducted in order to identify any differences in performance related to undergraduate degree program and sex, while a RASCH model was applied to provide validity evidence for the assessment. The results show that the students do not have a good level of ability for solving conditional probability problems, which they confused with the formulation of independent event problems although they did show a satisfactory level of ability for solving other types of problems.