Understanding of mathematics and science: efficient models for student assessments

Student self-reports provide information that is invaluable in assessing student backgrounds and achievements. These critical student inputs can be used to help place students in beginning courses; to identify high-risk and honors students; to evaluate the quality of courses, services, and resources; to initiate and evaluate existing and new programs; and to help students make career decisions. Faculty members can also use self-reports to efficiently examine student perceptions of their understanding of key content at the beginning and end of the courses for which they are responsible. This paper uses as a model: self-reports of first-year engineering students using the Mathematics Science Inventory (MSI). The MSI is used in placing students in beginning mathematics and chemistry courses and to evaluate their perceptions of their understanding of the key content of these courses. Significant, but differential self-reported gains in mathematics and chemistry knowledge are reported in twelve different math and chemistry courses, completed by 1995 and 1996 beginning engineering students. Complex, but generally positive, relationships are observed between course grades and pre-test and post-test self-reports of understanding of math and science content.