Enhancing Statistics Education with Expert Systems: More than an Advisory System

Abstract

This article reports on the results of two studies that investigated the effectiveness of different uses of expert systems in large introductory statistics classes. Three groups of students were compared – those who used an expert system created by the instructor of the course, those who created their own expert system, and those who did not use any at all. The first experiment showed non-significant, but interesting, trends that were explored in the second experiment. In the second experiment, significant differences emerged as the semester evolved in favor of those who used the expert system, regardless of whether or not the students created it themselves. These differences disappeared on the final exam, when technological problems added to the end-of-the-semester tension. These findings support the notion that the use of expert systems in the classroom can have an important impact on the level and amount of learning that occurs. This article describes these two studies in detail and draws some implications for teaching.

• Active learning
• Computers as thinking tools
• Learning with technology

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to acknowledge substantial assistance from Mark Davidson and Gary Hettinger, doctoral candidates in the Instructional Systems Program at Penn State. Preliminary results of this study were presented at the 1995 Joint Statistical Meetings in Orlando, Florida.