Preparing Students for Success on Examinations: Readiness Assurance Tests in a Graduate-Level Statistics Course

Background: Formative feedback is one way to foster students' readiness for statistics examinations. Method: The use of Readiness Assurance Tests was examined as an educational intervention in which feedback was provided for both correct and incorrect responses in a graduate-level statistics course. Examination scores in the intervention group (n = 56) were compared with those in a control group (n = 42). Results: Intervention group examination scores significantly improved from 75.92 +/- 14.52 on the Readiness Assurance Test to 90.06 +/- 7.06, p +/- .001, on the midterm, and final examination scores improved from 78.23 +/- 17.29 to 85.6 +/- 6.98, p = .002. Intervention group midterm scores were significantly higher than those of the control group (90.06 +/- 7.06 versus 79.7 +/- 11.6, p +/- 001); however, no differences were found between the groups on the final examination (85.35 +/- 9.46 versus 85.6 +/- 6.98, p = .91). Conclusion: Use of Readiness Assurance Tests was an effective modality to increase student self-efficacy, learning experience, and, relative to a control group, midterm examination performance in statistics.