Title:	Development of conceptual understanding of statistics for concrete thinkers in a constructivist learning environment.
Author:	Beckett, T. M.
Source:	Dissertation Abstracts International. Volume: 60-08, Section: A, page: 2841.
Year:	1999
Accession number:	ADG9942531
Type:	research
Abstract:	Today, college students are being prepared for a much different workplace than has ever existed before. Students who are trained only to memorize facts and do computations will be at a disadvantage because the computer has proven to be a more cost effective way to store information and perform calculations. The contemporary college mathematics curriculum should emphasize thinking, communication, and understanding. The literature suggests that students whose level of cognitive reasoning is not at the stage of formal operations, as defined by Piaget, will not be successful in a college level statistics course. The purpose of this study was to identify the students who have not reached the level of formal operations and explore a strategy that will enable them to achieve conceptual understanding of probability and statistics. It was hypothesized that teaching practices consistent with constructivist epistemology will be conducive to students whose thinking remains at the concrete level. The study explored a constructivist learning environment which focused on students interacting in groups to discuss, share, and communicate their ideas, thought processes, and misconceptions as they work on interesting problems using real life data. The study involved 101 college students enrolled in four separate sections of an Introductory Probability and Statistics course. An initial paper and pencil test, called the Formal Operational Reasoning Test (FORT), determined if each student's ability to reason was at the pre-formal or formal operational level. Four existing classes were involved in this study through an entire semester. Two classes were identified as an experiential group where students worked in groups to discuss and collaboratively find solutions to problems. In these classes the constructivist learning environment was built. The other two classes were identified as a control group. At the end of the semester, all of the students responded to the Constructivist Learning Environment Survey (CLES). This questionnaire evaluated the students' perceptions of teaching strategies that create a constructivist learning environment. To enhance the validity of the study, to minimize the researcher's biases, and to increase agreement on the description of the presence or absence of specific teaching strategies, an independent observer surveyed all of the classes. All of the students took the same final exam, which assessed their conceptual understanding of probability and statistics. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) test determined that the results from the control and experimental groups were significant and supported the hypothesis that a constructivist learning environment is conducive to students' conceptual understanding. Information obtained from this study could be used to either support or alter the recommendation that certain teaching methods promote conceptual understanding of probability and statistics. Specifically, the findings in the study determined that a student who has not achieved the formal operational level of cognitive development and who is involved in the constructivist learning environment can acquire an acceptable level of conceptual understanding. The findings of the study will inform both theory and practice of the phenomena surrounding the constructivist learning environment (provided).
Related issue:	Issue 5: Instructional strategies.
Related indicator:	5.2
Keywords:	Concept, Statistics, Understanding, Constructivist, Constructivism, Collaboration, Collaborative learning.

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