Literature Index

Explaining abstract, theoretical distributions to beginning students is sometimes difficult. This article describes a demonstration that helps to make the central limit theorem for generating sampling distributions concrete and understandable.

This article describes 2 simple and effective classroom demonstrations of the Monty Hall Dilemma (MHD). The MHD is based on a choice scenario from the game show Let's Make A Deal (1975-1985) in which a contestant attempts to select the winning door from a set of 3 alternatives. The dilemma emerges when, after the initial selection, 1 of the nonwinning doors is revealed and the contestant must choose whether to stay with the initial selection or switch to the remaining door. Although intuitively it seems that the odds of winning are now 50-50, in reality, switching produces more wins that staying. The MHD illustrates the pitfalls associated with the use of cognitive shortcuts or heuristics and can be used to demonstrate the importance of empirical observation and experimentation.

This paper deals with the introduction of hypermedia technologies in statistical methods as well as their applications in the training of students. A hypermedia prototype to show statistical methods was developed and the toolkits are Toolbook and Kappa. Several screens were developed in a electronic book. The screens show the calculations modules. Some statistical graphs are shown through the screens. The electronic book shows about theoretical methods to calculate means, medians and variance for samples and it provides a deep knowledge about statistical methods. The consultation sessions are quite complete, allowing the student to learn the theory and practice to solve statistical problems. An hypertext system represents the information, in a different way from others usually employed because it is presented as a non-linear mode and, therefore, allowing to take advice with information in agreement with user interests.<br><br>Hypertext and hypermedia systems allow us to reach the following objectives:<br><br>* The structure of the classical text files;<br>* Non-Linear navigation on any selected order of the stored text;<br>* Cooperation, i. e., information with different formats, text, graphs, images, video and voice;<br>* Interaction, what means, sophisticate access tools, as graphical interfaces.<br><br>The paper debates about publications that suggest the benefits of hypermedia systems applications in personal training models.