Data Collection & Analysis

During the semester we collected the following data:

• actual student contributions to the conversation captured on the website;
• student Calculus Conversation grades on each problem (1 to 4 with 4 being the best score);
• student graded responses to exam questions conceptually related to the Calculus Conversation questions but placed in an unfamiliar context (recorded as a % of the total possible.)

The quantitative analysis of this project attempts to determine if student performance on conceptual exam questions can be correlated with the quality of their participation in the web-based threaded discussion.

The qualitative analysis examines the approaches and language that students use to express their understandings and misunderstandings of mathematical ideas, as well as their abilities to read and respond to the questions and solutions posed by their peers.