In this paper we provide a glimpse of the iterations of design, research and theorizing of a<br>probability simulation tool, Probability Explorer, that have occurred over the past decade. We<br>provide a brief description of the key features of the technology designed to allow young students<br>opportunities to explore probabilistic situations. This is followed by details about several research<br>observations made in multiple investigations of student explorations with this probability micro-<br>world software package. We then explicate how research results suggest that a focus on a<br>bidirectional interplay between theoretical distribution and empirical data can promote reasoning<br>about probabilistic phenomena, and offer implications for instruction. The paper concludes with a<br>discussion of a next generation innovation in the software for representing a theoretical distribution<br>that we believe may promote better students reasoning about the bidirectional connection between<br>theoretical distributions and empirical data
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