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Abstract
Researchers and educators have found that statistical ideas are often misunderstood by students and professionals. In order to develop better statistical reasoning, students need to first construct a deeper understanding of fundamental concepts. The Sampling Distributions program and ancillary instructional materials were developed to guide student exploration and discovery. The program allows students to specify and change the shape of a population, choose different sample sizes, and simulate sampling distributions by randomly drawing large numbers of samples. The program provides graphical, visual feedback that allows students to construct their own understanding of sampling distribution behavior. To capture changes in students' conceptual understanding we developed diagnostic, graphics-based test items that were administered before and after students used the program. An activity that asked students to test their predictions and confront their misconceptions was found to be more effective than one based on guided discovery. Our findings demonstrate that while software can provide the means for a rich classroom experience, computer simulations alone do not guarantee conceptual change.
Acknowledgments
This research was supported by a Grant-In-Aid from the University of Minnesota and a National Science Foundation grant from the Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE-9752523). Materials produced under this grant can be obtained at http://www.gen.umn.edu/faculty_staff/delmas/stat_tools/index.htm . We also want to thank the reviewers of this paper whose comments helped to significantly shape and focus the content. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 1997 Joint Statistical Meetings in August 1997 in Anaheim, CA.