Predicting Students Performance in Introductory Psychology from Their Psychology Misconceptions - Assignment Example

The article centralized on the prediction that students who have fewer misconceptions at the beginning of the course are likely to have higher course grades than those students who held more misconceptions. The total population of the study includes 178 undergraduates who were taking introductory psychology classes from 2001 to 2005.

Using cluster sampling, 23 samples were derived from a large urban university located in the southwestern U.S., 40 samples from small, private, liberal arts college located in the southwestern U.S., and 115 samples from small, private, liberal arts college located in the northeastern U.S. (Kuhle, Barber & Bristol, 2009, 120). Classes have an average composition of 16.3 students, ranging from 4-26 members. The demographic profiles of the l of classes were not assessed but all of the samples were given similar instructors and class format.

Upon analysis of the information from different classes, statistical tests reflect a one-tailed with an alpha level of .05. The majority of the students (83%) held 5 or more misconceptions out of 10 and have lower grades than those students who held few misconceptions; 88% of which came from small southwestern college. In addition, the correlations between KOPT scores and class grades have resulted in five correlations with statistical significance; thus, KOPT scores is a significant predictor of students’ performance with considerable predictive validity in anticipating underperforming students.

Critique of the Article

The title of the article has clarity and indicates clearly the key variables and the study population. The abstract is presented in short but understandable content. With regards to the introduction, the problem is easy to identify and relates to a number of previous researches or studies done. Although one can’t find a conceptual paradigm in the article, there is a relationship and a hypothesis that can be derived from the introduction of the article. In the methodology section, protection of participants’ rights was not mentioned in the study (although students’ were informed of the study and the nature of the KOPT test).

It was also not clear whether the study was externally reviewed by an IRB/ethics review board. Although the hypothesis was explicitly stated, the discussion proved to support the hypothesis by discussing how the research problem was answered. The data collected were also inclined the researchers’ interpretations and are clearly and logically presented. The implications for education, practice and research were given. Limitations were not noted in the article but there are recommendations to apply the study in a broader population or different introductory courses aside from psychology.

Article Questions
The following questions were created based upon analysis of the article:
What is the hypothesis that was implicitly stated in the introduction?
Why did the authors use cluster random sampling as the sampling methods for collecting data?
What is the statistical significance of the article/study?