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Problems and Exercises I
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Description:

At one large university, a group of education specialists wanted to test the effectiveness of a newly designed academic improvement course. Students seeking academic help at the university counseling center were asked to participate in this 6-week program. Only students who were judged to have deficiencies in reading comprehension and other study-related skills were chosen for the program. Students whose academic problems were judged to be the result of emotional difficulties of one sort or another were not enrolled in the program but were counseled in a manner more appropriate to their problem. A group of 30 students completed the program at the counseling center. A review of grades and teachers' comments revealed that a large majority of the students were doing better in school after completing the program than before. The difference between preprogram and post-program performance measures was statistically significant.



1

Identify three major threats to the internal validity of this study as it has been described. Show why there are at least three plausible hypotheses for the obtained effect other than that based on the effectiveness of the academic improvement course.
2

Explain how a nonequivalent control group design could be used to strengthen the internal validity of this investigation of the effect of the academic improvement program. Be sure to identify how you would obtain a control group and what measures would have to be obtained to carry out this type of design.
3

Identify two issues of external validity that might concern an administrator of another university who is considering implementing this program at her institution.





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