Revista Colombiana de Psicología (Dec 2012)
EFFECTS OF THE AMOUNT OF ACTIVITY ON THE LEARNING OF DATA ANALYSIS AND SAMPLING DISTRIBUTION IN THE CONTEXT OF STATISTICS TEACHING: AN IMPERFECT COMPARISON/ LOS EFECTOS DE LA CANTIDAD DE ACTIVIDADES EN EL APRENDIZAJE DEL ANÁLISIS DE DATOS Y LA PROBABILIDAD MUESTRAL EN EL CONTEXTO DE LA ENSEÑANZA DE LA ESTADÍSTICA: UNA COMPARACIÓN IMPERFECTA/ OS EFEITOS DA QUANTIDADE DE ATIVIDADES NA APRENDIZAGEM DA ANÁLISE DE DADOS E A PROBABILIDADE AMOSTRAL NO CONTEXTO DO ENSINO DA ESTATÍSTICA: UMA COMPARAÇÃO IMPERFEITA
Abstract
This article examined the tradeoff between data analysis and simulations in the learning of statistics. In order to do this, the article compared two different interventions aimed at teaching statistics. One intervention used data analysis tools and focused on examples and long exercises that required students to interpret data. The other intervention used simulations and focused on formal aspects of probability related to statistical inference. Then, both perspectives were contrasted in their effectiveness to teach ANOVA. The intervention that used simulations improved students’ knowledge about probability, sampling and sample size effects. The intervention that used data analysis tools showed no significant effects on students’ data analysis knowledge.
