Literature Index

A series of probabilistic inference problems is presented and base rates will be combined with other information when the two kinds of information are perceived as being equally relevant to the judged case. The base-rate fallacy is then discussed in its relation to the above.

The development of school students' understanding of comparing two data sets is explored through responses of students in individual interview settings. Eighty-eight students in grades 3 to 9 were presented with data sets in graphical form for comparison. Student responses were analysed according to a developmental cycle which was repeated in two contexts: one where the numbers of values in the data sets were the same and the other where they were different. Strategies observed within the developmental cycles were visual, numerical, or a combination of the two. The correctness of outcomes associated with using and combining these strategies varied depending upon the task and the developmental level of the response. Implications for teachers, educational planners and researchers are discussed in relation to the beginning of statistical inference during the school years.

A course disk in either CD or DVD format can be very beneficial to online, hybrid, or distance courses in statistics as well as traditional on-campus courses, augmenting existing technologies like course management systems. A typical course disk may include the syllabus and course outline, calendar, instructions, lecture notes and lecture outlines, handouts, assignments, interactive content such as quizzes and surveys, software, statistical tables, example program files, program code, data files, video lectures and tutorials, and pertinent website links. In most cases, a course disk would be used in addition to traditional methods like course management systems rather than in place of these traditional methods. Most of the benefits of a course disk are shared with course management systems like Blackboard or Moodle; however, a course disk has the distinct advantages that it need not rely on internet access and it provides access to course materials after a course has ended.<br><br>One course disk was developed and used in teaching a graduate-level introductory statistical methods course in three different settings: distance learning off-campus condensed course, online course, and traditional on-campus course. The course disk provided a variety of benefits across delivery formats as well as benefits unique to each delivery format.<br><br>This article will (1) review relevant literature, (2) describe the course disk and compare its use to other content delivery methods, (3) discuss the experiences and evaluation of using the course disk in three different settings and how the students in each setting benefited from using the course disk, and (4) discuss the necessary hardware and software and the process of making a course disk.

In statistics courses, students often find it difficult to understand the concept of a statistical test. An aggravating aspect of this problem is the seeming arbitrariness in the selection of the level of significance. In most hypothesis-testing exercises with a fixed level of significance, the students are just asked to choose the 5% level, and no explanation for this particular choice is given. This article tries to make this arbitrary choice more appealing by providing a nice geometric interpretation of approximate 5% hypothesis tests for means.<br>Usually, we want to know not only whether an observed deviation from the null hypothesis is statistically significant, but also whether it is of practical relevance. We can use the same geometrical approach that we use to illustrate hypothesis tests to distinguish qualitatively between small and large deviations.