Issues in Teaching Statistical Thinking With Spreadsheets


Authors: 
Nash, J. C., & Quon, T. K.
Category: 
Volume: 
4(1)
Pages: 
Online
Year: 
1996
Publisher: 
Journal of Statistics Education
URL: 
http://www.amstat.org/publications/jse/v4n1/nash.html
Abstract: 

Spreadsheet software is widely used and now includes statistical functionality. This paper discusses the issues raised in teaching statistics with spreadsheet software. The principal concerns relate to aspects of the spreadsheet view of computation that make it difficult to keep track of what calculations have actually been carried out or to control the spreadsheet by means of a script. We also discuss a number of other advantages and deficiencies of spreadsheets for teaching statistics.

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