Literature Index

This study investigated the relationship between a constructivist learning environment and students' attitudes toward statistics. The Constructivist Learning Environment Survey (CLES) and the Attitude Toward Statistics scale (ATS) were used to measure the environment and attitudes respectively. Participants were undergraduate students of an introductory college statistics course. They were drawn from Seattle Pacific University in the US and the University of Zimbabwe.<br>The study had two components. One component addressed hypotheses examining potential differences between groups and the other explored relationships between variables. The environment was not manipulated and the data was collected from courses that already existed in the form studied. For this reason, the overall design of the study had causal comparative and correlational elements. A constructivist learning environment was found to be significantly related to students' attitude toward statistics. Furthermore, there were significant differences between the groups based on location.<br>The study examined the similarities and differences in perceptions and attitudes of students from two very different learning milieus. Cross-cultural comparisons have the potential to generate new insights into statistical pedagogy and the role noncognitive socio cultural variables play in teaching statistics to college-age students.

Statistical literacy is essential in our personal lives as consumers, citizens and professionals. Statistics plays a role in our health and happiness. Sound statistical reasoning skills take a long time to develop. They cannot be honed to the level needed in the modern world through one high school course. The surest way to reach the necessary skill level is to begin the educational process in the elementary grades and keep strengthening and expanding these skills throughout the middle and high school years. A statistically literate high school graduate will know how to interpret the data in the morning newspaper and will ask the right questions about statistical claims. He or she will be comfortable handling quantitative decisions that come up on the job, and will be able to make informed decision about quality of life issues.<br><br>The remainder of this document lays out a framework for educational programs designed to help students achieve this noble end.

Recent evidence indicates that people's intuitive judgments are sometimes affected by systematic biases that can lead to bad decisions. Much of the value of this research depends on its applicability, i.e., showing people when and how their judgments are wrong and how they can be improved. This article describes one step toward that goal, i.e., the development of a curriculum for junior high school students aimed at improving thought processes, specifically, those necessary in uncertain situations (probabilistic thinking). The relevant psychological literature is summarized and the main guidelines in the curriculum development are specified: (a) encouraging students to introspect and examine their own (and other's) thought processes consciously, (b) indicating the circumstances in which common modes of thinking may cause fallacies, and (c) providing better tools for coping with the problems that emerge. Two detailed examples are given. In addition, the problem of training teachers is briefly discussed and a small-scale evaluation effort is described.

We describe our project to develop curricular materials for a course that introduces students at the post-calculus level to statistical concepts, methods, and theory. This course provides a more balanced introduction to the discipline of statistics than the standard sequence in probability and mathematical statistics. The materials incorporate many features of successful statistics education projects that target less mathematically prepared students. The student audiences targeted by this project are particularly important because they have been overlooked by previous curricular reform projects. Most importantly, the proposed audience includes prospective teachers of statistics, introducing them to content and pedagogy that prepare them for implementing NCTM Standards with regard to statistics and probability and for teaching the Advanced Placement course in Statistics.