Abstract:

The study aimed at investigating the perceptual gap between the grades students expected and their teachers’ marks, in the field of Statistic Science. Not getting the grades one expected, can be not only a huge disappointment, but also a stressful and uncertain time for students. While just missing a grade by a few points may not have the impact you might expect, scoring significantly lower or higher, can result in a host of options that may alter the path you had planned.

The perception of students can vary widely depending on individual experience, personality, preparation level or neuropsychological patterns. However, there are some common themes and perceptions that many students share when they review and examn related expecting higher results.

The study was conducted in the Barcelona School of Industrial Engineering, at the final exam of Statistics subject (second year). A total of 234 students registred for the course where included in the sudy. The students are distributed in 6 groups, with different teachers and differents exam versions. All the exam includes a final question in which perception about the result was asked as a simple measure of the exam real mark. The study was approved by research commitee and 94% accpeted to participate in the study, obtaining a sample of n=220 students. All the students were informed that the mark written as a perception would never affect the objective correction of the exam.

The difference betwen real mark and expectations is analysed with a fundamental non–parametric statistical method, where more coventional test such as t-test cannot be applied due to the distribution characteristics of the data. Its focus is on the direction (positive or negative) of changes between paired observations rather than their numerical differences. The test shows significant differences emphatising higher results on perception than real mark. The difference is also associated with several qualitative factors, such as wheter the student has specials needs, as well as the group and the examiner teacher.

Keywords:

Perceptual Gap, Academic Perception, Degree Discrepancy, Student-Teacher Dynamics, Student Expectations.