Developing University Students’ Statistical Reasoning via a Research-informed Course
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https://doi.org/10.52296/vje.2024.362-
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Abstract
Statistical reasoning (SR) is an essential skill for students in studying statistics. This study aims to develop SR for university students through an appropriately designed course in statistics. Employing a quasi-experimental design, this study evaluated students' SR changes as they participated in a research-informed statistics course, designed to integrate statistical reasoning. The results showed that the course helps students improve their SR, with their scores increased by 23% from the pre-test to the post-test. Specifically, the SR scores on measures of central tendency of the experimental class increased by 8%; while the SR scores on the measures of variability of the experimental class increased by 34%. Suggestions about curriculum and teaching are included, such as offering opportunities for statistical investigations with real data; going deeper into building and understanding formulas; and training lecturers to teach statistics using approaches that are different from traditional teaching methods, as well as evaluating students' statistical learning with reliable tools.
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