Literature Index

Displaying 2941 - 2950 of 3326
  • Author(s):
    Aureli, E. & Russo, R.
    Editors:
    Phillips, B.
    Year:
    2002
    Abstract:
    This paper intends to be a report on the statistical methods and tools used in geography courses in Italy. We will mostly focus on the upper level of Italian educational system as well as on the geographical disciplines taught both in Italian universities and in some strictly selected postgraduate courses. We will also take into account the didactical role that statistical and mathematical disciplines have been playing in geography courses for the last ten years, as well as university programmes that are presently adopted. Data will be taken from the programmes of geography degree courses, and from the programmes of twelve selected master courses, carried out in partnership with some of the most prestigious Italian universities. This study aims at explaining the utility of quantitative language in didactics and geographical research.
  • Author(s):
    Jordan, J.
    Year:
    2004
    Abstract:
    While written comments are a popular and potentially effective method of student exam feedback, these comments are often overshadowed by students' focus on their grades. In this paper I discuss the additional use of orally recorded exam feedback in introductory statistics classes of 40 or fewer students. While grading and writing comments on a student's exam solution, I create a personalized sound file of detailed oral feedback for each question. The student can then securely access this file. The oral feedback in combination with written comments is more understandable for and motivating to the students, and accommodates a broader range of student learning styles. In support of this new feedback method, I provide and discuss classroom data collected from my students. Furthermore, I make suggestions for the use of orally recording feedback when time and resources are scarce.
  • Author(s):
    McKenzie, J. D. Jr.
    Year:
    1992
    Abstract:
    This paper describes how projects can be incorporated into an applied statistics course, with particular attention directed towards courses with a small number of students. It presents a summary of how the author, his colleagues, and other educators use projects. It concludes with a discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of using this pedagogical tool.
    Location:
  • Author(s):
    Nisbett, R. E., Krantz, D., H.Jepson, C., & Kunda, Z.
    Year:
    1983
    Abstract:
    "In reasoning about everyday problems, people use statistical heuristics, that is, judgmental tools that are rough intuitive equivalents of statistical principles. Statistical heuristics improved historically and they improve ontogenetically. Use of statistical heuristics is more likely when (a) the sample space and the sampling process are clear, (b) the orle of chance in producing events is clear, (c) the culture specifies statistical reasoning as normative for the events. Perhaps because statistical procedures are part of people's intuitive equipment to begin with, training in statistics has a marked impact on reasoning. Training increases both the likeli- hood that people will take a statistical approach to a given problem and the quality of the statistical solution. These empirical findings have important normative implications."
  • Author(s):
    Noddings, N.
    Editors:
    Campbell, W. E., & Smith, K. A.
    Year:
    1997
    Abstract:
    Good teachers have always used stories in their teaching, and often stories turn out to be more effective than arguements and explanations. I will discuss five categories of stories and their uses here.
  • Author(s):
    Steinbring, H.
    Year:
    1990
    Abstract:
    The paper analyzes the relationship between the epistemological nature of mathematical knowledge and its socially constituted meaning in classroom interaction. Epistemological investigation of basic concepts of elementary probability reveals the theoretical nature of mathematical concepts: The meaning of concepts cannot be deducted from former more basic concepts; meaning depends in a self-referent manner on the concept itself. The self-referent nature of mathematical knowledge is in conflict with the linear procedures of teaching. The micro-analysis of a short teaching episode on introducing the chance concept illustrates this conflict. The interaction between teacher and his students in everyday teaching produces a school-specific understanding of the epistemological status of mathematical concepts: the chance concept is conceived of as a concrete generalization, which takes "chance" as a fixed and universalized pattern of explanation instead of unfolding potential and variable conceptual relations of "chance" or "randomness" and developing the theoretical mature of this concept in an appropriate way for students' comprehension.
  • Author(s):
    Moore, D. S.
    Editors:
    Brunelli, L., & Cicchitelli, G.
    Year:
    1993
    Abstract:
    Video, in the form of broadcast television, is the most popular medium for entertainment and news in the developed world. A television set is one of the first substantial purchases made by households in developing areas as their wealth increases. These phenomena testify to the power of video to hold attention, a power which can also be applied to formal teaching. Video can be used for teaching in several settings: learning at a distance for geographically scattered students, as a supplement in traditional classroom settings, and as a component of new technological learning systems. In each case, wise use of video requires an understanding of both the strengths and weakness, drawing both on practical experience and on cognitive research. We will then suggest appropriate uses of video for teaching statistics in the three settings just mentioned.
  • Author(s):
    Wright, J. C., & Murphy, G. L.
    Year:
    1984
    Abstract:
    Research on human judgment demonstrates that people's theories often bias their evaluation of evidence and suggest that people might be more accurate if they were unbiased by prior beliefs. Rather than comparing people's judgments of data when they do or do not have a prior theory, most studies compare people's estimates to conventional statistical standards, even though the status of these measures as normative criteria is controversial. We propose that people's theories may have beneficial consequences not examined in previous research. In two paradigms (the covariation estimation problem and the t-test problem), we compare judgments made by people who have potentially biasing prior information. We vary the quality of the data, presenting subjects with data that are either well-behaved or contaminated with outliers. In both paradigms, people's judgments approximated robust statistical measures rather than the conventional measures typically used as normative criteria. We find the usual biasing effects of prior beliefs but also find an advantage for subjects who have prior theories - even incorrect ones - over subjects who are completely "objective." Potentially biasing beliefs both enhanced people's sensitivity to the bulk of the data and reduced the influence atypical scores had on their estimates. Evidence is provided that this robustness results from the fact that prior theories make judgment problems more meaningful. We discuss the conditions under which prior beliefs are likely to help and hinder human judgment.
  • Author(s):
    Harvey, A. L., Plake, B. S., & Wise, S. L.
    Year:
    1985
    Abstract:
    Three experiments were conducted with college age beginning statistics students to assess the validity of six popular beliefs about factors related to statistics achievement. Mathematics background and ability, logical reasoning ability, attitude toward statistics, and anxiety were all found to have some relationship to statistics achievement. Differences between graduates and undergraduates, and men and women, were also explored. No significant differences were found between the groups on any single factor related to statistics achievement. There were, however, differences in how those factors combined to affect achievement for the different groups. It was concluded that no one variable explored here is singularly necessary for achievement in beginning statistics.
  • Author(s):
    da Silva, C. B., & Coutinho, C. Q. S.
    Editors:
    Rossman, A., & Chance, B.
    Year:
    2006
    Abstract:
    This paper is aimed at identifying the invariants employed by teachers to understand the variation concept. Ten Mathematics teachers were involved in this research, in a process of continuing formation lasting 54 hours. During the early discussions with these teachers it was possible to identify the absence of such concept among them. When working with quantitative data we realized the teachers knew the algorithm for the calculation of standard deviation, although they were not able to interpret the results they obtained. At the end of the process we used an exercise to diagnose possible changes in the conceptual field of variation. Only one lady teacher was able to clearly identify data variation and the mean variation. Although we worked with such a small groups of teachers, we could notice that data variation is an intuitive concept, which does not happen in terms of standard deviation, which is extremely hard to interpret.

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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