[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-201689-105":59,"doc-detail-201689-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":123,"head_meta":125,"extra_data":127,"updated_unix":129},105,"en","pre-med-major-and-automaticity-ability-opinion-analysis","Pre-Med Major and Automaticity Ability - Opinion Analysis","","Texas Networking for Science Advancement (NSA) evaluates general chemistry students’ quantitative-reasoning arithmetic automaticity using the Math-Up Skills Test (MUST), a 20-question, 15-minute diagnostic instrument. Results show stronger relationships between calculator-free automaticity and chemistry averages than calculator-based performance, with high reliability (KR-20 > .80) and internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha > .85). The work links test-policy shifts limiting calculators to concerns about postsecondary preparation, then proposes expanding calculator-free instruction and automaticity-focused support to improve readiness.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/pre-med-major-and-automaticity-ability-opinion-analysis/201689/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/pre-med-major-and-automaticity-ability-opinion-analysis/201689.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Miles","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-17","2026-09-04",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":39},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What tool does the NSA team use to assess students’ automaticity?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"The team uses the Math-Up Skills Test (MUST), a 20-question, 15-minute hand-graded open-ended diagnostic instrument.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"How do the results compare calculator-free performance with calculator-based performance?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"Students’ calculator-free automaticity shows a stronger relationship with general chemistry averages than what they can do with a calculator, despite better scores with calculators on the MUST.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What problem does the paper raise about state testing calculator policies?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"It argues that calculator restrictions and requirements may reduce students’ quantitative-reasoning preparation for postsecondary success, limiting their number sense to judge whether calculator answers are plausible.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},201689,1788537112,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":39,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":14,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":129,"read_time":24,"preview_page_count":4},13056703019404,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_29158cc5080c5b710cf443261637dec0","| ISSN: 2574-1241 DOI: 10. 26717/BJSTR.2021.38.006216\u003Cbr>Pre-Med Major and Automaticity Ability |  |  |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Cynthia Powell and Diana Mason*\u003Cbr>Department of Chemistry, University of North Texas, USA\u003Cbr>*Corresponding author: Diana Mason, Professor Emeritus, Department of Chemistry, University of North Texas, USA |  | |\n| ARTICLE INFO\u003Cbr>Received:  September 09, 2021\u003Cbr>Published:  September 20, 2021\u003Cbr>Citation: Cynthia Powell, Diana Mason. Pre-Med Major and Automaticity Ability. Biomed J Sci & Tech Res 38(5)-2021 . BJSTR. MS.ID.006216 . | ABSTRACT\u003Cbr>Abbreviations: NSA: Networking for Science Advancement; MUST: Math-Up Skills Test;\u003Cbr>TEA: Texas Education Agency; QR: Quantitative-Reasoning |  |\n\nOpinion  \nThe Texas Networking for Science Advancement (NSA) team formed in 2016. The team now consists of 15 faculty from 10 Texas universities. Five of the partnering universities are classified as Hispanic-Serving Institutions (at least 25% Hispanic enrollment) and the other five are considered as Hispanic-emerging (16- 24% Hispanic enrollment) . Two of the 10 institutions are private universities, and the remaining are public. To date, the team has published results of eight studies (two currently in press) evaluating general chemistry students’ QR arithmetic automaticity skills (what students can do without a calculator) using the MathUp Skills Test (MUST), a 20-question, 15-min, hand-graded, openended diagnostic instrument [1-3] . One of our carrots to encourage students to try this quiz without using their trusted calculating devices is that the MCAT is a calculator-free evaluation instrument and over 50% of our general chemistry students indicate an interest to enter the health professions.  \nThe Good  \nFrom the very first observation, the team’s results provided alinear trend-the better students’ arithmetic skills the better their general chemistry averages in both first- and second-semesters. The results not expected are that there is a stronger relationship between what students can do without a calculator (their automaticity) than what they can do with a calculator. Yes, the  \nstudents did better on the MUST with a calculator but the effect size without a calculator is stronger. The statistics consistently support that the MUST is highly reliable (KR-20 > .80), has good internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha > .85), and the Cohen’s d for the MUST is consistently > 1.0 indicating a large effect size for a population of over 10,000 students. Using the MUST has provided the team with a diagnostic instrument that allows instructors the ability to identify at-risk students in 15 min the first week of classes. Being able to identify these students who will struggle with the course material early in the semester provides ample time for corrective measures to be employed in hopes that students will take advantage of the opportunity but herein lies the rub: it’s the rich that get richer! Pilot studies indicate that this trend carries onto lower-level organic chemistry courses.  \nThe Bad  \nThe original study came about because the team noticed that Texas students’ SAT scores were consistently declining below the national average. This trend coincided with the Texas Education Agency (TEA) mandated change from a 4×4 high stakes testing system consisting of a series of four exams per year in four subjects (mathematics, science, social studies and English) during the final four years of secondary school. TEA’s current testing-system focuses on only two STEM areas (biology and first-year algebra) along with  \nfirst-and second-year English and US History. The TEA calculator policy states no calculators are permitted on STAARs (State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness) in grades 3-7, but districts must ensure that each student has a graphing calculator to use on all STAARs starting with 8th-grade mathematics (both paper and online versions) and biology. For the biology assessment, there should be one calculator (f","cbCaircHnHllUAVP","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaircHnHllUAVP","pdf",296445,"English","# Opinion\n## The Good\n## The Bad\n## The Future","[{\"question\":\"What tool does the NSA team use to assess students’ automaticity?\",\"answer\":\"The team uses the Math-Up Skills Test (MUST), a 20-question, 15-minute hand-graded open-ended diagnostic instrument.\"},{\"question\":\"How do the results compare calculator-free performance with calculator-based performance?\",\"answer\":\"Students’ calculator-free automaticity shows a stronger relationship with general chemistry averages than what they can do with a calculator, despite better scores with calculators on the MUST.\"},{\"question\":\"What problem does the paper raise about state testing calculator policies?\",\"answer\":\"It argues that calculator restrictions and requirements may reduce students’ quantitative-reasoning preparation for postsecondary success, limiting their number sense to judge whether calculator answers are plausible.\"}]","Pre-Med Major and Automaticity Ability - Opinion Analysis | PDF"]