Definitions of research in statistical education are discussed. A system of keywords for categorising statistical education research is outlined. Proposals for a Web-based survey of statistical education researchers to collect details of their research activities in statistical education, and the design of a database to store these details are described.
Many teachers and researchers use the Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS) software for instructional and/ or research purposes. Because of the comprehensive nature and features of this program, there are various textbooks available that may offer teachers and practitioners a more concise way to analyze and discuss many of the topics that are typically taught in statistics courses. These textbooks differ on many different features, such as level of the audience, complexity of statistical procedures discussed, degree of interpretation of statistics/output, amount of detail discussed on the basic mechanics, accessibility of data files, and student exercises. This paper is written to offer teachers and researchers a review of some of the most popular SPSS textbooks that are available today by utilizing evaluation criteria previously discussed in the literature. This review can provide a starting point for teachers to explore features of the various SPSS textbooks as well as to consider what book is most appropriate based on their own teaching style. Comments from teachers who use the software, limitations of the review, and a table of other ancillary textbook data conclude the paper.
Nowadays, the importance of affectivity in statistics education is widely acknowledged. In the past two decades a large number of instruments to measure attitudes and anxiety toward statistics have been developed in order to assess the influence of emotional factor on students' training. However, many of these instruments have not been analysed in depth and their psychometric properties have not properly been assessed. The aim of this paper is revising the research works that have contributed empirical evidence for the reliability and validity of these instruments. Our results suggest the need for more research about instruments to measure attitudes and anxiety about statistics. We conclude by suggesting some priority research areas that might be relevant in future studies on this topic.
This paper describes a classroom teaching experiment, concerning the concept of probability, with children aged 5 in a kindergarten school. The teaching experiment was based on constructivist and interactionist theories about the learning of school mathematics and lasted one month. The collection of the information was based on the tape-recorded interviews with the children (each child was interviewed prior to the research program, at the end of the program and one month later) and the videotaped teaching sessions. During the program, we identified three critical steps in the development of the children's probabilistic thinking: a) the interpretation of the "different" outcomes in a two stage experiment, b) the acceptance of the realization of the experiment for resolving their conflicting viewpoints, and c) estimating the outcomes in a problem. At the end of the program the majority of the children managed to overcome their subjective interpretations and seemed to develop a primitive quantitative reasoning in probabilistic tasks.
This paper describes a computer managed instruction package for teaching introductory or advanced statistics. The instructional package is described and anecdotal information concerning its performance and student responses to its use over two semesters are given. (Author/BL)
Describes the operation of a graduate level statistics course based on computer-assisted instruction (CAI). Course content and student reactions are discussed, course evaluations are reported, problems involved with moving the courseware to different computer systems are described, and the CAI run-time system is explained. (10 references) (LRW)
The conjunction fallacy in probability judgment is described in the literature by the representativeness heuristic; its stability is emphasized. Two determinants are deduced from a general problem-solving model (existence and availability of the conjunction rule), which should reduce the inadequate use of the heuristic. Additionally, a distinction is made between errors in probability judgment which can be explained by the heuristic and those which can not. 32 subjects (16 female, 16 male), between 22 and 28 years old, participated under four experimental conditions (with eight subjects each). They solved two problems (one with high and one with low representativeness) concerning the conjunction rule. The experimental variables (existence and availability) substantially reduce - as postulated - the erroneous decisions. Only 55% of the remaining errors can be described by the representativeness heuristic. (orig.)
Rezension von Hawkins, A.; Jolliffe, F.; Glickman, L.: Teaching statistical concepts. Stochastische Begriffe und Begriffsbildungen unterrichten. 1992.
Describes primary and supplementary textbooks for a course on nonparametric statistics for students in behavioral sciences, lists conceptual and applied articles using these techniques, and recommends the use of the SPSS-X computer package. All of these materials have been received favorably by the students. (PsycLIT Database Copyright 1993 American Psychological Assn, all rights reserved)
Discusses experiences in elementary statistics that involve describing data by measures of central tendency and dispersion and that are appropriate for students in secondary schools. Includes background information, instructional strategies, procedures, and a ready-to-duplicate student worksheet. (JN)