This Java based applet gives students an opportunity to work through confidence interval problems for the mean. The material provides written word problems in which an individual must be able to correctly identify the given parts for a confidence interval calculation, and then be able to use this information to find the confidence interval. It gives step by step prompts to encourage students to choose the correct numbers and "cast of characters".
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Content Quality Concerns:
Most of the applet is a "plug and chug", which is good for students having difficulty identifying the essential parts of a confidence interval calculation from word problems, but does not encourage conceptual thinking about confidence intervals. The student is not asked to identify the population of interest or the parameter that the confidence interval is expected to contain nor does the applet provide a graphical illustration of the confidence interval.
Content Quality Strengths:
The applet is very simply organized and helps students to develop step by step processes for solving confidence interval problems. This applet requires students to identify component parts of the confidence intervals. The structure of the applet forces students to identify constituent parts of the problem that will be used in the calculation of the confidence interval. The material has a nice display with easy to understand directions and an interface with encouraging and helpful help windows that pop-up when an incorrect answer is given.
Ease of Use Strengths:
The material has a very nice display that is easy to use and follow. The directions are clear and the help boxes are helpful with the right amount of information. The material can be used with a variety of different backgrounds and/or technical skills.
Potential Effectiveness Concerns:
It does not give students any encouragement to think about the assumptions made in constructing the interval and thus does not encourage critical thinking about confidence intervals. There are also minor grammatical errors and some issues with the display of digits that might cause some problems.
Potential Effectiveness Strengths:
The teaching-learning goals of the material are easy to identify. The material is relevant to most introductory statistics textbooks, and it is easily accessible. The material is well organized and presented. The help windows are well designed to aid students through the process.
Potential Effectiveness Rating:
4
Source Code Available:
Source Code Not Available
Intended User Role:
Learner, Teacher
Material Type:
Resource Type:
Statistical Topic:
Copyrights:
Yes
Cost:
Free for All
Format:
Math Level: