before the university census date receive a withdrawn grade.
Instruments
In order to test the statistical significance of differences between the years, a number of statistical tests including ANOVA and Chisquared tests were used depending on the research question and type of variables.
Procedure
Three research questions were formulated based on our generalised hypothesis that there would be a negative impact resulting from the reduction of direct contact hours from five to four hours per week. Relevant statistical tests were then carried out. The three research questions are listed below.
Question 1:
Was there a higher proportion of students who discontinued either before or after the census date, thus not completing the unit in 2009?
Question 2: Did the mean total mark reduce in 2009? Question 3: Were the overall grades lower in 2009?
RESULTS
The results of these three research questions were used to analyse the differences between the years and are presented here.
Question 1
Was there a higher proportion of students who discontinued either before or after the census date, thus not completing the unit in 2009?
Table 2 lists the numbers and percentage of students who discontinued by year. In 2007 and 2008 the percentage of students who discontinued is approximately the same at 29 % and 30 % respectively. However, in 2009, the percentage of students who discontinued increased markedly to 47 %, almost half the originally enrolled students.
The figures for 2007 and 2008 were combined because of their similarity and then compared to 2009 figures. They were tested with a two sample proportion test to see whether the proportion discontinuing was larger in 2009 than the combined proportion in 2007 and 2008. The p-value for this test was 0.04. This shows that there was a significantly higher proportion discontinuing in 2009 than 2007 and 2008.
Question 2 Did the mean total mark reduce in 2009?
Figure 4 shows boxplots for the total mark for each year.
Figure 4 compares the total mark for the whole semester for 2007, 2008 and 2009. What can be seen is, overall, the total mark
Count
50
40
30
20
10
0
Figure 1: Male and female students 2007 – 2009
Gender
Count
50
40
30
20
10
male female
0
Figure 2: Domestic and international students for each year
Domestic / international
Count
60
40
20
domestic international
0
Figure 3: Students studying Japanese as a compulsory or non-compulsory unit for each year
Compulsory unit compulsory non-compulsory
TO BECOME PROFICIENT IN JAPANESE AT A SURVIVAL LEVEL, 15 HOURS A WEEK OF FACE-TO-FACE TUITION AND AN EQUAL AMOUNT OF PRIVATE STUDY IS REQUIRED FOR 16 WEEKS.
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