This study assesses two things: first, preconceived statistical and probabilistic reasoning skills and misconceptions that selected college students brought to the college classroom; and second, these students' learning subsequent to a college level mathematics class unit on probability statistics. This inquiry then expands into an analysis of the students' most common correct reasoning types, their most prevalent misconceptions, and areas of greatest improvement. Results were expected to demonstrate that the students, upon completion of the education unit, showed significantly more correct reasoning skills, significantly fewer misconceptions, or both. The data did not yield the expected results. It is evident that current classroom methods did not significantly affect student learning as defined in this study.
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