Teaching Statistics in the First Years of the University with the Emphasis on the Solution of Problems

It is not discussed that the principles and Statistical methods are necessary not only for understanding, but also for the effective exercise in any profession, especially those that are related to the health, since the variability of the clinical, biological and laboratory data, either on individuals or communities, that to come to a decision goes always accompanied by a degree of uncertainty. This is due to the undeniable probabilistic nature of the Biomedical Sciences and it is in fact the Statistics the one that provides the appropriate tools to confront the differences and that uncertainty. (Leiva, Carrera, et al., 1999). The Statistics knowledge and of their procedures allow the student and the graduate to critically appreciate the phenomena that happen to their surroundings ; it allows him to understand scientific works and to produce his own ones, besides generating data of quality and knowing about the problems that affect the population under study.<br><br>Today, any citizen needs in his daily activity certain resources of the Statistics. In the last years this has taken to radically change the teaching of Statistics in many of the countries where it is part of the Mathematics curriculum. It is necessary that the citizen learns earlier to interpret the facts that happen to his surroundings and the data that he receives permanently through any means of diffusion. Learning Statistics is nowadays unquestionably based by the instrumental contribution that this science carries out. (Gal and Garfield, 1997). Besides through statistical education research, the Statistics has been shown as a "modern discipline," useful to develop in precise form the abilities required in the global world and the information society (Ottaviani, 1999).<br><br>That had motivated the next words of Susan Starkings (1996): Mathematical education has radically changed, in many countries, over the last decade The need for mathematically literate students who can function in today's technological society has instigated a change in the content of Mathematics curriculum. From the last educational reformation our country has recently begun to introduce emphasis in Statistic with emphasis in the pre-grade curricula. Some years before only charts were given, means and standard deviations and in some cases some other position measure.