Question:
The article “An Alternative Vote: Applying Science to the Teaching of Science” (The Economist, May 12, 2011) describes an experiment conducted at the University of British Columbia. A total of 850 engineering students enrolled in a physics course participated in the experiment. Students were randomly assigned to one of two experimental groups. Both groups attended the same lectures for the first 11 weeks of the semester. In the twelfth week, one of the groups was switched to a style of teaching where students were expected to do reading assignments prior to class, and then class time was used to focus on problem solving, discus-ion, and group work. The second group continued with the traditional lecture approach. At the end of the twelfth week, students were given a test over the course material from that week. The mean test score for students in the new teaching method group was 74, and the mean test score for students in the traditional lecture group was 41. Suppose that the two groups each consisted of 425 students. Also suppose that the standard deviations of test scores for the new teaching method group and the traditional lecture method group were 20 and 24, respectively. Estimate the difference in mean test score for the two teaching methods using a 95% confidence interval. Be sure to give an interpretation of the interval.