Mean, Median and Mode from a Decision Perspective

Abstract

The classroom activity described here allows mathematically mature students to explore the role of mean, median and mode in a decision-making environment. While students discover the importance of choosing a measure of central tendency, their understanding of probability distributions, maximization, and prediction is reinforced through active learning. The lesson incorporates the GAISE recommendations by actively engaging students in the process of statistical problem-solving in a realistic situation.

• Probability distribution
• Return function
• Prediction

Acknowledgment

We wish to thank the anonymous referees for their insightful comments that significantly improved this paper.