The Sampling Distributions program and ancillary instructional materials were<br>developed to guide student exploration and discovery. The program provides graphical,<br>visual feedback which allows students to construct their own understanding of sampling<br>distribution behavior. Diagnostic, graphics-based test items were developed to capture<br>students' conceptual understanding before and after use of the program. An activity<br>which asked students to test their predictions and confront their misconceptions was<br>found to be more effective than one based on guided discovery. Our findings demonstrate that while software can provide the means for a rich classroom experience, computer simulations alone do not guarantee conceptual change.
The CAUSE Research Group is supported in part by a member initiative grant from the American Statistical Association’s Section on Statistics and Data Science Education