Literature Index

Displaying 551 - 560 of 3326

  • Chernoff Faces in Microsoft Excel.

    Author(s):
    Hunt, N.
    Editors:
    Goodall, G.
    Year:
    2004
    Abstract:
    This article describes how Chernoff faces can be drawn in Microsoft Excel.

  • Children as Explorers: Exploratory Data Analysis by Junior High School Students in a Computer Assisted Environment

    Author(s):
    Ben-Zvi, D.
    Year:
    2001
    Location:
    www.stat.auckland.ac.nz/iasedissert

  • Children's ability to make probability estimates: Skills Revealed through Application of Anderson's Functional Measurement Methodology

    Author(s):
    Acredolo, C., O'Connor, J., Banks, L., & Horobin, K.
    Year:
    1989
    Abstract:
    Functional measurement methodology was used to assess children's attention to the total number of alternative outcomes as well as the number of target outcomes when making probability estimates. In Study 1, first-, third-, and fifth-grade children were given the task of estimating on a simple, continuous but nonnumeric scale the probability of drawing a particular color of jelly bean from a bag containing either 1, 2, or 3 jelly beans of that color, and either 6, 8, or 10 jelly beans total. In Study 2, first- through fifth-grade children were given the task of estimating the likelihood that a bug would fall on a pot containing a flower when presented displays of planters containing either 2, 3, 4, or 5 pots with flowers, and 6, 8, or 10 pots total. In both studies, the children were exposed to each of the combinations of numerator and denominator across 3 replications. The results indicate that all age groups attend to variations in the denominator as well as to variations in the numerator, and, furthermore, that they attend to the interaction between these variables. This finding contrasts sharply with research that requires children to choose which of 2 containers offers the greater chance of yielding a target item in a blind draw. It is suggested that children possess the skill to make accurate probability estimates, but they are unaware that these estimates should always be made and used when comparing the probability of an event across trials. The findings are discussed in relation to the broader issue of the limitations of the choice paradigm as a means of investigating children's thinking.

  • Children's calibration of subjective probability as a lens on their reasoning about uncertainty

    Author(s):
    Moore, K. P., & Metz, K. E.
    Abstract:
    This study examined the calibration techniques from the adult judgment and decision making literature for the purposes of assessing the adequacy of children's subjective probability judgments. Two hundred eighty-eight children from an inner-city school participated in the study. In accordance with the adult decision making literature, the children were consistently overconfident in their subjective probability judgments Gender and culture were each found to have a significant effect on the degree of overconfidence.

  • Children's choice behavior in probabilistic situations

    Author(s):
    Falk, R.
    Editors:
    Grey, D. R., Holmes, P., Barnett, V., & Constable, G. M.
    Year:
    1983
    Abstract:
    Most decisions in uncertain situations involve comparison of the probabilities of success under the alternative choices, and selection of that alternative where the chances of success are higher. Hence the ability to discriminate between probabilities of varying discrepancies is crucial in such tasks. The development of that capacity was examined in two previous experiments. The purpose of the present study is to identify the principles of choice in individual response patterns. One of the educational implications of this study is that the teaching of probability to children should be carefully planned. The lesson to be learned from the results of the present research, in conjunction with earlier studies, is that the concept of proportion (and probability) is very elusive.

  • Children's conceptions of probability - A psychological and pedagogical review

    Author(s):
    Hawkins, A. S., & Kapadia, R.
    Year:
    1984
    Abstract:
    This paper identifies a number of key questions concerning children's understanding of probability.

  • Children's concepts of average and representativeness

    Author(s):
    Mokros, J. R., & Russell, S. J.
    Year:
    1992
    Abstract:
    This paper addresses two major questions about children's understanding of average. The first question deals with children's own understanding of representativeness within the context of data sets. When asked to describe a data set, how do children construct and interpret representativeness? The second question focuses on how children think about the mean as a particular mathematical definition and relationship. It deals with the underlying issue of how children develop mathematical definitions and how they connect these definitions with their informal mathematical understanding. This question, which has been considered by other researchers primarily in the context of experimental research designs, is addressed here in an open-ended, descriptive manner.

  • Children's Concepts of Chance and probability

    Author(s):
    Hoemann, H. W., & Ross, B. M.
    Editors:
    Brainerd, C. J.
    Year:
    1982
    Abstract:
    Interest in children's concepts of chance and probability has been prompted by several questions. Assuming that the development of a concept of chance and probability is influenced by experience, what are the conditions that bring it about? What are its precursors? Is it acquired all at once, or is it acquired gradually over a relatively long period of time? At what age is its development complete? Does every mature adult have a similarly functioning concept of chance, or are there individual differences? If so, how are they to be explained? To what extent is a concept of chance a result of formal instruction in school? What kinds of training are likely to improve upon immature or deficient concepts of chance or probability? When making probability judgments, is there a optimum strategy that can be said to be correct in each type of situation, or is there a variety of strategies more or less adequate or appropriate? To what extent is performance in a probability setting controlled by the reinforcing consequences of previous outcomes? What is the relationship between chance and probability concepts, on the one hand, and the development of linguistic ability to articulate them, on the other? In what ways are various probability tasks alike, and how do they differ? What makes some tasks seem harder than others? What is the relationship between the development of concepts of chance or probability and cognitive development in general? These do not seem to be trivial questions. Indeed, many of them have been addressed in published research reports and monographs. The purpose of this chapter is to review procedures that have been devised to investigate some of these questions and to evaluate the conclusions that have tentatively been drawn.

  • Children's construction of fair chances: Adjusting probabilities

    Author(s):
    Falk, R., & Wilkening, F.
    Year:
    1998
    Abstract:
    A probability-adjustment task was presented to 6-14-year-old children. In 2 experiments, children had to generate equal probabilities by completing the missing beads in a target urn with 1 type of beads presented beside a full urn with both winning and losing beads. The results indicate that only at around the age of 13 did most students proportionally integrate the 2 dimensions (i.e., the numbers of winning and losing beads).

  • Children's Constructions of Data, Chance, and Inference in Design Contexts

    Author(s):
    Lehrer, R., & Romberg, T.
    Year:
    1994
    Abstract:
    We used a clinical methodology to explore elementary students' reasoning about data modeling and inference in the context of long-term design tasks. Design tasks provide a framework for student-centered inquiry (Perkins, 1986). In one context (Study 1), a class of fifth-grade students worked in six different design teams to develop hypermedia documents about Colonial America. In a second context (Study 2), a class of fifth-grade students designed science experiments to answer questions of personal interest. In the first, a hypermedia design context, students compared the lifestyles of colonists to their own lifestyles. To this end, ten "data analysts" developed a survey, collected and coded data, and used the dynamic notations of a computer-based tool, Tabletop (Hancock, Kaput, & Goldsmith, 1992), to develop and examine patterns of interest in their data. Tabletop's visual displays were an important cornerstone to students' reasoning about patterns and prediction. Analysis of student conversations, including their dialog with the teacher-researcher, indicated that the construction of data was an important preamble to description and inference, as suggested by Hancock et al. (1992). We probed students' ideas about the nature of chance and prediction, and noted close ties between forms of notation and reasoning about chance. In the second study involving the context of experimental design, we consulted with two children and their classroom teacher about the use of a simple randomization distribution to test hypotheses about the nature of extra-sensory perception (ESP). Here, experimentation afforded a framework for teaching about inference grounded by the creation of a randomization distribution of the students' data. We conclude that design contexts may provide fruitful grounds for meaningful data modeling.

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