Research

  • Project work has been implemented in the assessment of the final year students in a University Business School. The main objective of the project is to develop students' research skills. Although the project is not necessarily a statistical project, many of these projects involve data analysis. Hence, statistics has become a substantial part of the exercise. However, students have limited understanding in statistics and research methods, thus the main concern is whether they equip themselves in data analysis and what difficulties they encounter while handling data. The paper gives an overview of experience in data analysis for these students. The study is based on a survey conducted amongst the final year students upon completion of their projects. Students' views of data analysis were assessed. Conclusions were drawn in terms of the results, and positive and negative experiences of the students. The strengths and weaknesses of the data analysis are identified. Ways to improve the statistics curriculum and assist students to master the statistical skills in data analysis in future are discussed.

  • Students at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) come from diverse cultures and often disadvantaged communities where basic amenities, such as running water and electricity, are not a given. The majority (63% in 2001) of our students had their first exposure to computers at university. In order to fast-track these students to meet increasing technological needs, more effective methods of teaching Statistics needed to be explored. Since 1997 innovative teaching approaches such as collaborative learning, teamwork and the use of mind maps were introduced and used to aid students to become acquainted with the prescribed subject matter. These new approaches were compared to traditional classroom teaching in 1997. These interventions were successful in that students not only studied the prescribed material more efficiently, they also developed skills to function effectively in a multicultural team, preparing them for the working environment in South Africa.

  • Teachers of mathematics in Egyptian schools almost depend on traditional lectures and discussions in teaching the statistics units which concentrate often on either mere computational aspects or theoretical concepts and distributions. To change this situation, an experimental approach is suggested to be used in Egyptian schools as a useful base for teaching and learning the subject in these schools. Questions interspersed throughout the experiments intend to promote statistical thinking among students, to help them to discuss the results obtained and to formulate final conclusions. One of the basic features of the approach is to give students the chance to use some of the methods used by real statisticians, then to find out relationships, new meanings and findings for themselves. By using such an approach, students can collect, analyze data and discover things by themselves. A field study conducted for preparatory stage students in Egypt (11 - 14 years old) has revealed the effectiveness of the suggested approach in achieving its goals.

  • A 3-year study was conducted to document individual differences in computer interest and use among middle school students and the psychological and social processes that may contribute to these differences. A questionnaire was used to assess the computer interest and use of a sample of approximately 400 middle school students at the end of each of the 3 years. The dependent measures--interest in learning about computers, plans to take elective computer classes, willingness to consider a computer career, and non-school computer use--and outcome measures were combined into a computer interest and use composite score. Eight independent variables were selected: mathematics interest, current goals for computer use, mathematics achievement, perceived parental encouragement for computing activities, perceived peer reactions to computer involvement, perceived relevance of computing skills for the future, perceived self-efficacy for computer-related tasks, and affective responses to the computer. These variables were organized using a newly developed version of "living systems" theory and students were asked to rate them on a scale of 1 to 5. Regression analysis of the data from the questionnaires and additional demographic and descriptive data showed that: (1) the gender of the subject appears to be an important social characteristic to consider in predicting computer interest and use since there were significant differences in favor of males; (2) boys may be more involved in computers as the result of more opportunities for mastery, more role models to emulate, greater verbal encouragement, and less fear of the machines; and (3) boys express a more positive attitude about the benefits of computers to society than do girls. Although there was a decline within grade levels from year to year over the 3-year period the variables showed consistent gender differences in favor of males. (DJR)

  • The use of computer assisted instruction in teaching statistical concepts was studied. Students enrolled in classes in education who lacked statistical experience participated. Knowledge questions for pretest and posttest assessments were prepared from a pool of questions used in the statistics department of the College of Education at Virginia Tech. Software modules for this pilot study were created through computer software applications and implemented in a Windows 3.1 environment. Central limit theory was the concept presented, and it was presented in one of three different computer-mediated ways: (1) text, graphics, plus static interaction (TGS); (2) text, graphics, plus animated interaction (TGA); and (3) text, graphics, plus passive video (TGPV). Because the investigation was a pilot study to support further investigation, analyses were not developed in depth. Gains in knowledge were found, however. Participants were less enthusiastic about TGS than the other presentations, with TGA appealing to most. Issues for further study are discussed. (Contains 16 references.) (SLD)

  • 25 undergraduates enrolled in an introductory psychology statistics course took 2 examinations: a traditional exam and an exam using the SPSS/PC program. Ss then completed questionnaires assessing their perceptions of SPSS/PC. Scores on the 2 exams did not differ significantly. Ss were ambivalent about the helpfulness of the program, about which test showed more of their knowledge, and about whether the program supplied any additional information. Ss requested that more class time be devoted to learning SPSS/PC's concepts, theories, and derivations. (PsycLIT Database Copyright 1995 American Psychological Assn, all rights reserved)

  • Our analysis identified problems both with the subject matter of statistics (e.g. multiple levels of abstraction, difficulty mapping statistical representations to real-world situations) and with its pedagogy (which typically does little to help concertize abstract concepts or illuminate the mapping process). Drawing on research in education, cognitive psychology and statistical computing, we designed, implemented, and pilot-tested software (ELASTIC) and a curriculum (Reasoning Under Uncertainty) to address these problems. Our approach was successful in many of the problem areas identified above; in addition, our experiences in classrooms helped us better understand the difficulties students have in understanding and applying statistical reasoning.

  • A selection of 19 problems analyzed from various points of view is presented. The problems are selected in a way that central issues in treating the problems are related with the concept of probability or the stochastic nature of information. The reader can observe many fallacies or false conclusions. Some of the problems introduced were used in experimental investigations in order to prove the limitedness of human power of judgment when processing stochastic information and estimating probabilities. On one hand, the results of the empirical findings are reported briefly in the discussion of the problems, on the other, the theoretical approaches which were developed in order to explain these findings are explained in detail.

  • Described and evaluated is a course structured around SPSS (the Statistical Packages for Social Sciences) that helps psychology students review what they have learned in an introductory statistics course and apply these quantitative skills to other courses. Student evaluation showed that course objectives were met. (Author/RM)

  • The experience as an online student is discussed as a case study. The six-month online course undertaken was designed as professional development for teachers. The objective of the course was to develop skills in online development and delivery of training. It included instructional design, the development of educational models for delivery, tutoring online and the use of computer mediated communications software. The positive and negative aspects of this experience are covered. The "lessons learned" are discussed for relevance to teaching health statistics, predominantly risks and rates and common study types used in health investigations.

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