Spring 2011 Administration - TTU · 2020. 1. 21. · measure skills in punctuation, grammar, sentence structure, strategy, organization, and style. In coordination with the various

Collegiate Assessment of Academic Proficiency: Writing Skills Test Spring 2011

Office of Planning and Assessment, Devin DuPree and Sabrina Sattler, June 2011 Page 1 of 31

Collegiate Assessment of Academic Proficiency:

Writing Skills Test

Spring 2011 Administration



Table of Contents Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................................... 5

Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 7

Sample....................................................................................................................................................... 7

Results ......................................................................................................................................................... 10

CAAP Scores Overall ................................................................................................................................ 10

CAAP Scores by Sex, GPA, and Effort ...................................................................................................... 14

Additional Questions............................................................................................................................... 16

Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................... 21

Appendix ..................................................................................................................................................... 22

Appendix A: Information about the CAAP Writing Skills Test ................................................................ 22



................................................................................................................................................................ 22

Appendix B: Copy of the Additional Questions ....................................................................................... 24

Appendix C: Analysis of CAAP Scores ...................................................................................................... 27

Appendix D: Additional Questions Analysis ............................................................................................ 30





Executive Summary The Collegiate Assessment of Academic Proficiency (CAAP) Writing Skills Test is designed to measure skills in punctuation, grammar, sentence structure, strategy, organization, and style. In coordination with the various Texas Tech University (TTU) colleges, the Office of Planning and Assessment administered the Writing Skills Test in select courses across campus during the spring 2011 semester. Courses were chosen to achieve a representative number from each college based on enrollment of juniors and seniors. ACT allows the administering institution to add up to nine additional questions to the chosen CAAP module. TTU chose to add nine additional questions regarding participants’ college writing experience. A total of 435 TTU students participated in the spring 2011 administration of the CAAP Writing Skills Test. The goal was to score tests from 200 juniors and 200 seniors. 43 answer sheets were excluded due to participants’ answer sheet irregularities or student classification. A final sample of 129 juniors (including sophomores with 50 or more credit hours) and 263 seniors is included in this analysis. The final sample seems to be a fairly good representation of the population of all TTU juniors and seniors in terms of sex, ethnicity, and college. In comparing scores from the CAAP Writing Skills Test, it appears that TTU juniors (mean = 62.9) and seniors (mean = 62.7) score slightly lower than the national samples of juniors (mean = 63.1) and seniors (mean = 63.2). However, these differences between the TTU samples and the national samples are not statistically significant at the 0.05 level. This suggests that TTU juniors and seniors score similarly to other juniors and seniors nationally on the CAAP Writing Test. Considering the TTU CAAP scores by sex, GPA, and self-report of effort shows that female participants, participants with higher GPA’s, and participants reporting more effort score higher on average than other participants on the CAAP Writing Test. Responses to the additional questions suggest that most TTU students complete their first-year composition credit at TTU or through transfer credit from another university. Where participants completed their first-year composition credit does not have a statistically significant impact on CAAP scores. A majority of the juniors and seniors report that they have completed their required six hours of writing intensive major courses. Participants’ completion of the six hours of writing intensive major courses does not have a statistically significant impact on CAAP scores. On average, participants report that they are required to write 0-10 pages in most of their classes. Participants’ average number of pages of required writing in classes does not have a statistically significant impact on CAAP scores. A large majority of the participants report that they have never used the University Writing Center in the past two semesters. Participants’ use of the University Writing Center does not have a statistically significant impact on CAAP scores. The most commonly valued aspect of writing instruction reported by participants is the opportunity to express ideas and the least commonly valued aspect of writing instruction reported by participants is the opportunity to collaborate with peers. A large majority of participants report that they are most confident when writing in English. For the juniors, participants reporting a language other than English scored



significantly lower on average. All of the results related to the additional questions need to be interpreted with caution due to the small sample sizes involved for some of the question responses.



Introduction The Collegiate Assessment of Academic Proficiency (CAAP) “is the standardized, nationally normed assessment program from ACT that enables postsecondary institutions to assess, evaluate, and enhance student learning outcomes and general education program outcomes.”1 The CAAP offers six different modules: Reading, Writing Skills, Writing Essay, Mathematics, Science, and Critical Thinking. 2 As per decision of the University Assessment Committee in fall 2010, the Office of Planning and Assessment administered the Writing Skills Test during spring 2011. The Writing Skills Test “is a 72-item, 40-minute test measuring students’ understanding of the conventions of standard written English in punctuation, grammar, sentence structure, strategy, organization, and style. Spelling, vocabulary, and rote rules of grammar are not tested.” 3 See Appendix A for more information on how the test is constructed and scored. ACT allows the administering institution to add up to nine additional questions to the chosen module. Nine questions were added as additional questions to ask participants about their writing experiences in college (see Appendix B for a copy of the additional questions). In coordination with the various colleges, the Office of Planning and Assessment administered the Writing Skills Test in select courses across campus. Courses were chosen to achieve a representative number from each college based on enrollment of juniors and seniors. Juniors and seniors were the target group, so courses with high junior and senior enrollment were selected to participate. Larger courses were chosen from colleges with higher junior and senior enrollment and smaller courses were chosen from colleges with lower junior and senior enrollment. Included in the sample were courses from the following colleges: College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources (AG), College of Architecture (AR), College of Arts and Sciences (AS), College of Education (ED), College of Human Sciences (HS), College of Mass Communications (MC), College of Visual and Performing Arts (VP), Edward E. Whitacre Jr. College of Engineering (EN), and Jerry S. Rawls College of Business Administration (BA). The CAAP Writing Skills Test and the additional questions were administered during the regularly scheduled class time for the participating classes. This allowed most students from each class to participate and helped reduce the bias that may have been created if students had been asked to volunteer to take the survey on their own time instead.

Sample A total of 435 Texas Tech University (TTU) students participated in the spring 2011 administration of the CAAP Writing Skills Test. The goal was to score tests from 200 juniors and 200 seniors. The Office of Planning and Assessment identified three irregularities (e.g., pattern scoring) that were exempt from scoring. Also exempt from scoring were the 39 participants with less than 50 credit hours (the participants with 50 - 60 credit hours were selected to be included with the sample of juniors). The remaining 393 answer sheets were sent to ACT to be 1 http://www.act.org/caap/, accessed 6/2/2011 2 http://www.act.org/caap/test_modules.html, accessed 6/2/2011 3 http://www.act.org/caap/test_writing.html, accessed 6/2/2011

http://www.act.org/caap/

http://www.act.org/caap/test_modules.html

http://www.act.org/caap/test_writing.html



scored. One of the returned answer sheets did not match with any participants from the TTU sample, leaving a final sample size of 392 participants (129 juniors and 263 seniors). Since the students’ R numbers were used as the student ID on the Writing Skills Test, the Office of Planning and Assessment was able to obtain demographic information for the participants from Institutional Research (IR). The demographic information obtained includes sex, ethnicity, student classification, and college. While participants were asked similar questions about their background on the CAAP Writing Skills Test, it was decided to use official registration data provided by IR instead. Using the IR data facilitates comparison to the population numbers and has a greater chance of being accurate. The following graphs compare the final junior and senior samples to the population of all TTU juniors and seniors, respectively, by sex, ethnicity, and college.

The junior and senior samples both appear to be fairly good representations of their respective populations in terms of sex.

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Female Male

Junior Sample and Population by Sex

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Senior Sample and Population by Sex

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AAM AI AS B HI M NR U WH

Junior Sample and Population by Ethnicity

Sample

Population



The junior and senior samples both appear to be fairly good representations of their respective populations in terms of ethnicity.

The junior sample appears to include more participants from the College of Arts and Sciences and fewer participants from the College of Business Administration and the College of Engineering than would be expected from the population. The senior sample appears to include more participants from the College of Engineering and the College of Human Sciences and fewer participants from the College of Arts and Sciences than would be expected from the population.

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AAM AI AS B HI M NR U WH

Senior Sample and Population by Ethnicity

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AG AR AS BA ED EN HS MC UC VP

Junior Sample and Population by College

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AG AR AS BA ED EN HS MC UC VP

Senior Sample and Population by College

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Results

CAAP Scores Overall Three scores are reported for the CAAP Writing Skills Test: a total test score (72 items), a usage/mechanics subscore (32 punctuation, grammar, and sentence structure items), and a rhetorical skills subscore (40 organization, strategy, and style items).4 Potential total test scores range from 40 (low) to 80 (high) and potential subscores range from 5 (low) to 25 (high). The following table gives a summary of these three scores for the TTU junior and senior samples.

Summary of CAAP Scores

Total Test Usage/Mechanics Rhetorical Skills Juniors Seniors Juniors Seniors Juniors Seniors

n 129 263 129 263 129 263 Mean 62.9 62.7 16.7 16.4 16.3 16.3 Standard Deviation 4.9 4.6 2.4 2.2 2.4 2.4 Minimum 53 50 11 11 11 10 Median 63 63 17 17 16 16 Maximum 73 72 21 21 21 21

It appears that on average the TTU juniors scored slightly better than the TTU seniors in total test scores (62.9 vs. 62.7) and usage/mechanics scores (16.7 vs. 16.4) and that the TTU juniors scored similarly to the TTU seniors in rhetorical skills scores (16.3 vs. 16.3). The differences in total test scores, usage/mechanics scores, and rhetorical skills scores by student classification are not statistically significant at the 0.05 level (see Appendix C for details). This suggests that on average TTU juniors and seniors score similarly on the Writing Skills Test.

4 http://act.org/caap/test_writing.html, accessed 6/2/2011

http://act.org/caap/test_writing.html



The following graphs show the distributions of total test scores, usage/mechanics scores, and rhetorical skills scores for the TTU junior and senior samples.

The total test score distributions are similar for the TTU juniors and seniors.

The usage/mechanics score distributions are similar for the TTU juniors and seniors with a few more seniors scoring between 16 and 19 and a few more juniors scoring between 19 and 22.

7%

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Writing Skills Test: Total Test Scores

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Writing Skills Test: Usage/Mechanics Score

Juniors

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The rhetorical skills score distributions are similar for the TTU juniors and seniors.

The ACT website has a summary for the scores of 18,902 juniors from 130 institutions and 14,405 seniors from 127 institutions who participated in the Writing Skills Test in the fall of 2010.5 On average the TTU juniors scored similarly to the national sample of juniors in total test scores (62.9 vs. 63.1), usage/mechanics scores (16.7 vs. 16.6), and rhetorical skills scores (16.3 vs. 16.6).6 On average the TTU seniors scored similarly to the national sample of seniors in total test scores (62.7 vs. 63.2), usage/mechanics scores (16.4 vs. 16.7), and rhetorical skills scores (16.3 vs. 16.6).7 The comparison of seniors’ usage/mechanics scores is statistically significant at the 0.05 level (see Appendix C for details). This suggests that on average TTU seniors score lower than other seniors nationally on the usage/mechanics questions of the CAAP Writing Skills Test. The other comparisons are not statistically significant at the 0.05 level. This suggests that on average TTU juniors and seniors score similarly to other juniors and seniors nationally for all the other scores from the CAAP Writing Skills Test.

5 http://act.org/caap/norms/, accessed 6/2/2011 6 http://act.org/caap/norms/pdf/10Table12.pdf, accessed 6/2/2011 7 http://act.org/caap/norms/pdf/10Table13.pdf, accessed 6/2/2011

14%

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Writing Skills Test: Rhetorical Skills Score

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http://act.org/caap/norms/

http://act.org/caap/norms/pdf/10Table12.pdf




The following table shows the number of TTU juniors and seniors who received each total test score and the national percentile for each of these scores.8 For each score, the national percentile shows the percentage of junior or senior participants, respectively, from the national sample that scored at or below that score. The highlighted cells show those TTU participants who scored higher than the 50th national percentile. Just over half of the TTU juniors (66 participants, 51.1%) and just under half of the TTU seniors (117 participants, 44.5%) scored above the 50th percentile nationally.

National Percentiles for CAAP Scores

Score TTU Juniors Natl. % TTU Seniors Natl. % 73 1 99 0 99 72 2 99 4 99 71 4 99 6 98 70 8 96 9 94 69 5 91 12 89 68 6 86 6 83 67 6 79 26 76 66 10 73 18 70 65 5 66 19 63 64 11 58 17 56 63 8 52 17 49 62 14 43 18 42 61 4 37 21 37 60 9 30 18 30 59 12 24 23 24 58 8 19 12 20 57 5 14 12 15 56 2 10 9 11 55 2 7 9 8 54 2 4 2 5 53 5 3 2 3 52 0 1 1 2 51 0 1 1 1 50 0 0 1 0

8 http://act.org/caap/norms/pdf/10Table12.pdf, http://act.org/caap/norms/pdf/10Table13.pdf, accessed 6/2/2011





CAAP Scores by Sex, GPA, and Effort The following graphs show the average CAAP total test scores by sex, GPA, and participants’ self-report of effort (See Appendix C for sample sizes).

For both the juniors and the seniors the female participants scored higher on average than the male participants. These differences by sex are statistically significant at the 0.05 level (see Appendix C for details). This suggests that on average female TTU juniors and seniors score higher than male TTU juniors and seniors on the CAAP Writing Skills Test.

Note that there is no average score for the seniors in the “below 2.00” group because there were no senior participants with a GPA lower than 2.00. It appears that on average the juniors and seniors with higher GPA’s scored higher than the juniors and seniors with lower GPA’s. These differences in scores by GPA are statistically significant at the 0.05 level (see Appendix C for details). The results suggest that on average TTU juniors and seniors with higher GPA’s score higher on the CAAP Writing Skills Test.

65.0

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Average CAAP Scores by Sex

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below 2.00 2.01 - 2.50 2.51 - 3.00 3.01 - 3.50 3.51 and above

Average CAAP Scores by GPA

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Note that the participants that selected “gave no effort” are excluded from this comparison because there was only one junior and two seniors in this group. For both the juniors and seniors it appears that on average participants who reported more effort on the assessment scored higher. These differences between the groups are statistically significant at the 0.05 level for the seniors, but not for the juniors (see Appendix C for details). The lack of significance for the juniors may be due to the small sample size of juniors selecting “gave little effort”. The results suggest that on average TTU seniors who put forth more effort on the CAAP Writing Skills Test score higher.

63.7 62.7

60.8

63.5 62.7

58.3

5556575859606162636465

tried my best gave moderate effort gave little effort

Average CAAP Scores by Effort

Juniors

Seniors



Additional Questions The following graphs give a summary of the junior and senior responses to the nine additional questions that were administered with the CAAP Writing Test (see Appendix B for a copy of the additional questions).

It appears that most of the participants completed their first-year composition courses through a course at TTU or through transfer credit from another institution. The responses to these questions were analyzed to assess if where participants completed their first-year composition credit has an impact on CAAP scores. The participants that completed at least one of their first-year composition semesters at TTU were compared to the participants that completed both of their first-year composition semesters through any of the other options. Testing at the 0.05 level, the analysis found that completing first-year composition credit at TTU as opposed to any of the other options did not have a statistically significant impact on CAAP scores for the juniors or the seniors (see Appendix D for details). This suggests that on average TTU juniors and seniors that complete their first-year composition credit at TTU do not score differently on the CAAP Writing Test than other TTU juniors and seniors.

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TTU transfercredit

dual credit SAT or ACT AP IB CLEP

I received credit for ENGL 1301 (the first semester of first-year composition) by:

Juniors

Seniors

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dual credit SAT or ACT AP IB CLEP

I received credit for ENGL 1302 (the second semester of first-year composition) by:

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Most of the junior and senior participants report that they have completed their six credit hours of writing intensive major courses. The responses to this question were analyzed to assess if completion of writing intensive courses has an impact on CAAP scores. The participants reporting that they do not know if they have completed the requirement were excluded from this comparison. Testing at the 0.05 level, the analysis found that completing the required six credit hours of writing intensive courses does not have a statistically significant impact on CAAP scores for the juniors or the seniors (see Appendix D for details). This suggests that on average TTU juniors and seniors that have completed their writing intensive major courses do not score differently on the CAAP Writing Test than other TTU juniors and seniors. Given that the sample includes juniors and seniors, it seems likely that many of the participants in the not completed group have completed at least part of the six hour requirement and do have some writing intensive course experience. This may help explain the lack of significant findings.

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Yes No I don't know

I have completed the required six credit hours of writing intensive courses in my major:

Juniors

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0-5 6-10 11-15 16-20 21-25 26 or more

In the typical course in my major, I am required to write the following number of pages:

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It appears that a majority of the juniors and seniors report that they have been required to write 0-10 pages in their typical major courses and in most of their courses outside their major. A larger percentage of the juniors and seniors reports that they been required to write more than 10 pages in their writing intensive major courses, although a large percentage of the juniors and seniors report writing 0-10 pages in these courses as well. The responses to these three questions were averaged for each participant to find if a participant’s average number of pages written in courses has an impact on their CAAP score. Testing at the 0.05 level, the analysis found that participants’ average number of pages written in courses does not have a statistically significant impact on CAAP scores for the juniors or the seniors (see Appendix D for details). This suggests that on average TTU juniors and seniors that write more in their courses do not score differently on the CAAP Writing Test than other TTU juniors and seniors. The lack of significant difference might be partially explained by the small proportion of participants reporting more than 10 pages of writing in their average course.

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In the writing intensive courses in my major, I am required to write the following number of pages:

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In most courses outside my major, I am required to write the following number of pages:

Juniors

Seniors



It appears that a large majority of the participants have never used the services of the University Writing Center in the past two semesters. Those participants reporting any use of the University Writing Center in the past two semesters were compared to those participants reporting no use of the University Writing to assess for an impact on CAAP scores. Testing at the 0.05 level, the analysis found that use of the University Writing Center in the past two semesters does not have a statistically significant impact on CAAP scores for the juniors or the seniors (see Appendix D for details). This suggests that on average TTU juniors and seniors that use the University Writing Center do not score differently on the CAAP Writing Test than other TTU juniors and seniors.

It appears that the most common response for the junior and senior participants is that they value writing instruction because it is an opportunity to express ideas or because of all of the listed reasons. The opportunity to collaborate with peers is the least common response for what the juniors and senior participants value about writing instruction.

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never 1-3 times 4-6 times 7-9 times 10 or more times

In the past two semesters, I have utilized the services of the University Writing Center (onsite or online) for my course assignments:

Juniors

Seniors

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engagesubjectmatter

express myideas

improvecritical

thinking

collaboratewith peers

instructorfeedback

all of theabove

none of theabove

What I value most about writing instruction is the opportunity to:

Juniors

Seniors



A large majority of the junior and senior participants report that they are most confident when writing in English. This group was compared to the participants reporting any other language as their most confident writing language to assess for an impact on CAAP scores. Testing at the 0.05 level, the analysis found that having a most confident writing language other than English does have a statistically significant impact on CAAP scores for the juniors, but not for the seniors (see Appendix D for details). This suggests that on average TTU juniors that are most confident writing in English score higher on the CAAP Writing Test than TTU juniors that are most confident writing in another language. This result, though, needs to be taken with caution due to the small sample size of juniors reporting a language other than English.

1% 0%

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1% 1% 0.4% 0.4% 2% 1% 0%

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Arabic Chinese English French German Hindi Russian Spanish Other

I am most confident when I am writing in the following language:

Juniors

Seniors



Conclusion Overall it appears that on average TTU juniors and seniors score similarly to other juniors and seniors nationally on the Writing Skills Test from the CAAP. At TTU, it appears that on average the juniors score similarly to the seniors. This pattern is consistent with the national samples of juniors and seniors. The results also suggest that at TTU female juniors and seniors score higher on average than male juniors and seniors. Juniors and seniors with higher GPA’s score higher on average than TTU juniors and seniors with lower GPA’s. TTU seniors who report that they put forth more effort on the assessment also score higher on average. Responses to the additional questions suggest that most TTU students complete their first-year composition credit at TTU or through transfer credit from another university. Where participants completed their first-year composition credit does not have a statistically significant impact on CAAP scores. A majority of the juniors and seniors report that they have completed their required six hours of writing intensive major courses. Participants’ completion of the six hours of writing intensive major courses does not have a statistically significant impact on CAAP scores. On average, participants report that they are required to write 0-10 pages in most of their classes. Participants’ average number of pages of required writing in classes does not have a statistically significant impact on CAAP scores. A large majority of the participants report that they have never used the University Writing Center in the past two semesters. Participants’ use of the University Writing Center does not have a statistically significant impact on CAAP scores. The most commonly valued aspect of writing instruction reported by participants is the opportunity to express ideas and the least commonly valued aspect of writing instruction reported by participants is the opportunity to collaborate with peers. A large majority of participants report that they are most confident when writing in English. For the juniors, participants reporting a language other than English scored significantly lower on average. All of the results related to the additional questions need to be interpreted with caution due to the small sample sizes involved for some of the question responses.



Appendix

Appendix A: Information about the CAAP Writing Skills Test 9

9 Screenshots from http://www.act.org/caap/test_writing.html (accessed on 6/2/2011)

http://www.act.org/caap/test_writing.html





Appendix B: Copy of the Additional Questions Student ID: R______________________________

INSTRUCTIONS: Please turn to page 3 in your answer document and find block P, Additional Questions. Each question below corresponds to a column in block P. Read the question and then mark only one circle in each column that best describes your response. For example, if for question A you think answer option 7 is correct, you would bubble in the 7 in column A, etc.

QUESTIONS Column A I received credit for ENGL 1301 (the first semester of first-year composition) by

0. taking the course at Texas Tech University 1. taking the course at another institution and transferring it in 2. dual credit through my high school and a neighboring college 3. high scores on the SAT or ACT 4. AP (Advanced Placement) examination 5. IB (International Baccalaureate) 6. CLEP (College Level Examination Program)

Column B I received credit for ENGL 1302 (the second semester of first-year composition) by

0. taking the course at Texas Tech University 1. taking the course at another institution and transferring it in 2. dual credit through my high school and a neighboring college 3. high scores on the SAT or ACT 4. AP (Advanced Placement) examination 5. IB (International Baccalaureate) 6. CLEP (College Level Examination Program)

Column C



I have completed the required six credit hours of writing Intensive courses in my major: 0. Yes 1. No 2. I don’t know

Column D In the typical course in my major, I am required to write the following number of pages:

0. 0-5 1. 6-10 2. 11-15 3. 16-20 4. 21-25 5. 26 or more

Column E In the Writing Intensive courses in my major, I am required to write the following number of pages:

0. 0-5 1. 6-10 2. 11-15 3. 16-20 4. 21-25 5. 26 or more

Column F In most courses outside my major, I am required to write the following number of pages:

0. 0-5 1. 6-10 2. 11-15 3. 16-20 4. 21-25 5. 26 or more

Column G In the past two semesters, I have utilized the services of the University Writing Center (onsite or online) for my course assignments

0. never 1. 1-3 times 2. 4-6 times 3. 7-9 times 4. 10 or more times



Column H What I value most about writing instruction is the opportunity to

0. engage fully with the subject matter I am writing about 1. express my ideas 2. improve my critical thinking skills 3. collaborate with my peers 4. receive detailed feedback from my instructor 5. all of the above 6. none of the above

Column I I am most confident when I am writing in the following language:

0. Arabic 1. Chinese 2. English 3. French 4. German 5. Hindi 6. Russian 7. Spanish 8. Other



Appendix C: Analysis of CAAP Scores

CAAP Scores by Student Classification n Mean St. Dev. t value p value Juniors 129 62.9 4.86 0.43 0.6705 Seniors 263 62.7 4.6

Usage/Mechanics Scores by Student Classification n Mean St. Dev. t value p value Juniors 129 16.7 2.44 0.91 0.3640 Seniors 263 16.4 2.24

Rhetorical Skills Scores by Student Classification n Mean St. Dev. t value p value Juniors 129 16.3 2.40 -0.05 0.9592 Seniors 263 16.3 2.38

CAAP Scores: TTU vs. National Sample (Juniors) n Mean St. Dev. t value p value TTU 129 62.9 4.9 -0.4716 0.6372 National Sample 18,902 63.1 4.8

CAAP Scores: TTU vs. National Sample (Seniors) n Mean St. Dev. t value p value TTU 263 62.7 4.6 -1.5782 0.1145 National Sample 14,405 63.2 5.1

Usage/Mechanics Scores: TTU vs. National Sample (Juniors) n Mean St. Dev. t value p value TTU 129 16.7 2.4 0.4920 0.6227 National Sample 18,902 16.6 2.3

Usage/Mechanics Scores: TTU vs. National Sample (Seniors) n Mean St. Dev. t value p value TTU 263 16.4 2.2 -2.0118 0.0443 National Sample 14,405 16.7 2.4



Rhetorical Skills Scores: TTU vs. National Sample (Juniors) n Mean St. Dev. t value p value TTU 129 16.3 2.4 -1.3587 0.1743 National Sample 18,902 16.6 2.5

Rhetorical Skills Scores: TTU vs. National Sample (Seniors) n Mean St. Dev. t value p value TTU 263 16.3 2.4 -1.8568 0.0634 National Sample 14,405 16.6 2.6

CAAP Scores by Sex (Juniors) n Mean St. Dev. t value p value Female 57 65.0 4.16 4.75 < 0.0001 Male 71 61.2 4.75

CAAP Scores by Sex (Seniors) n Mean St. Dev. t value p value Female 107 63.7 4.48 2.95 0.0035 Male 156 62.0 4.57

CAAP Scores by GPA (Juniors) n Mean St. Dev. F value p value

significant comparisons

A) below 2.00 9 63.1 5.09 5.14 0.0007 E > B B) 2.01 - 2.50 20 59.4 3.98

D > B

C) 2.51 - 3.00 33 62.8 4.59

D) 3.01 - 3.50 34 63.3 4.27

E) 3.51 and above 30 65.3 4.98

CAAP Scores by GPA (Seniors) n Mean St. Dev. F value p value


A) below 2.00 0 . . 7.72 < 0.0001 E > D B) 2.01 - 2.50 19 61.7 5.15

E > C

C) 2.51 - 3.00 86 61.7 4.28

E > B D) 3.01 - 3.50 94 62.2 4.62

E) 3.51 and above 64 65.0 4.13



CAAP Scores by Effort (Juniors) n Mean St. Dev. F value p value


A) tried my best 65 63.7 5.27 1.90 0.1543 B) gave moderate effort 50 62.7 4.05

C) gave little effort 10 60.8 4.80

D) gave no effort* 1 59 .

CAAP Scores by Effort (Seniors) n Mean St. Dev. F value p value


A) tried my best 119 63.5 4.53 9.85 < 0.0001 A > C B) gave moderate effort 117 62.7 4.21

B > C

C) gave little effort 16 58.3 4.76

D) gave no effort* 2 55 1.41

*excluded from analysis because of small sample size



Appendix D: Additional Questions Analysis

CAAP Scores by completion of first year composition credit (Juniors) n Mean St. Dev. t value p value TTU 51 62.4 4.24 -0.97 0.3320 Other 74 63.3 5.33

CAAP Scores by completion of first year composition credit (Seniors) n Mean St. Dev. t value p value TTU 103 62.9 4.46 0.05 0.9587 Other 143 62.9 4.58

CAAP Scores by completion of writing intensive courses (Juniors) n Mean St. Dev. t value p value Yes 86 63.1 4.89 0.76 0.4476 No 25 62.2 5.33

CAAP Scores by completion of writing intensive courses (Seniors) n Mean St. Dev. t value p value Yes 218 62.9 4.42 1.48 0.1409 No 19 61.3 4.56

CAAP Scores by average pages of writing in writing classes (Juniors) n Mean St. Dev. t value p value 0 – 5 72 62.8 4.63 0.44 0.7274 6 – 10 37 62.7 5.66

11 – 15 10 63.5 4.67 16 or more 6 65.0 4.34

CAAP Scores by average pages of writing in writing classes (Seniors) n Mean St. Dev. t value p value 0 – 5 110 62.8 4.36 1.8 0.1487 6 – 10 75 63.5 4.27

11 – 15 37 62.9 4.83 16 or more 24 61.0 5.44



CAAP Scores by use of the University Writing Center (Juniors) n Mean St. Dev. t value p value Yes 25 61.8 4.86 1.29 0.2011 No 100 63.2 4.92

CAAP Scores by use of the University Writing Center (Seniors) n Mean St. Dev. t value p value Yes 58 62.0 4.50 1.71 0.0888 No 186 63.2 4.87

CAAP Scores by most confident writing language (Juniors) n Mean St. Dev. t value p value English 118 63.2 4.92 8.12 < 0.0001 Other 6 57.8 1.17

CAAP Scores by most confident writing language (Seniors) n Mean St. Dev. t value p value English 212 63.3 4.35 1.37 0.1886 Other 16 61.1 6.33

Documents

Spring 2011 Administration - TTU · 2020. 1. 21. · measure skills in punctuation, grammar, sentence structure, strategy, organization, and style. In coordination with the various