Literature Index

Instant messaging is a way of sending short messages to other users who are currently online in "real time" and is a rapidly growing medium by which many students are choosing to communicate with each other. A pilot study into the use of instant messaging was carried out with two large elementary statistics classes. This study will report back on the virtual office-hours service, advantages and disadvantages of online study groups and reflections on how instant messaging could change help-support services for students studying statistics.

Students often perceive statistics as an overabundance of seemingly unconnected methods and problems. This problem could be eliminated if statistics were presented as a scientific investigation of a single comprehensive real-life case study, which we conditionally call a "scientific legend".

The connection between mathematics and statistics is an important aspect in understanding college students’ learning of statistics because studies have shown relationships among mathematics attitudes and performance and statistics attitudes. Statistics attitudes, in turn, are related to performance in statistics courses. Little research has been done on college students’ perceptions of their mathematics and statistics experiences. To fill this gap, a phenomenographical study of 12 college students with self-identified negative attitudes about statistics was conducted to understand their perceptions of their previous mathematics and statistics classes. An integrated approach to data analysis was conducted in two phases. First, themes emerged from an inductive analysis. Second, the six recommendations from the Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education (GAISE) College Report (2005) were used as a priori categories as an organizing framework for coding the data. Themes that emerged from the researchers’ analysis of the data were changing attitudes about statistics, defining the nature of statistics, seeking help, and blaming the teacher. The GAISE recommendations did not appear to be realized in the statistics classes taken by these students in various programs of study. Implications of these findings are discussed and recommendations for further research are suggested. In understanding students’ experiences from their perspectives, statistics educators can improve pedagogy and student learning.  

In reaction to misuses and misinterpretations of p-values and confidence intervals, a social science journal editor banned p-values from its pages. This study aimed to show that education could address misuse and abuse. This study examines inference-related learning outcomes for social science students in an introductory course supplemented with randomization and simulation content. Learning gains were measured across a suggested taxonomy of inference learning outcomes using the Reasoning about P-values and Statistical Significance (RPASS-10) scale. Three graphical comparisons of students’ Pretest and Posttest proportions were encoded by learning gain or loss, an inference learning outcome taxonomy, or if a correct concept or misconception was assessed. What students learned and the difficulties that persisted shape recommendations for teaching and future research.