Introductory Statistics Course Tertiary Students' Understanding of P-Values

This study aimed to gain knowledge of students’ beliefs and difficulties in understanding p-values, and to use this knowledge to develop improved teaching programs. This study took place over four consecutive teaching semesters of a one-semester were used to inform the instructional design for the following semester, the introduction of hypothetical probabilistic reasoning using a familiar context, and the use of alternative representations. The students were also encouraged to write about their work. As the interventions progressed, a high proportion of students successfully defined and used p-values in Null Hypothesis Testing procedures.