The Use of Story-Based Tasks in Post-Secondary Students’ Learning of Statistics
Date
2020-01-23
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Abstract
The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of an intervention, which uses stories to explore statistics, on post-secondary students’ understanding of statistics and their beliefs about the usefulness of statistics, and what features of the stories support meaningful learning. A qualitative case study approach is used. In line with the case study approach, multiple data sources are used, which consist of student and instructor class artefacts, pre- and post-intervention written response items, and post-intervention interviews. The participants in the study are 20 students from a single first-year post-secondary business statistics course in which the intervention is implemented. Data analysis entails a thematic approach based primarily on open-coding to identify participants’ understanding of statistics, their beliefs about the usefulness of statistics, and what features of the intervention supported meaningful learning. The findings suggest that the intervention supported participants development of various types of understanding of selected topics in statistics, development of understanding of the usefulness of statistics, and personalization knowledge as part of the process of developing understanding. Further, the findings indicate that the intervention served to support positive beliefs about the usefulness of statistics. Finally, the findings suggest that the features of the intervention and, in particular, the stories that impact meaningful learning include the prompts embedded within the stories, the authentic real-world context presented in the stories, and the nature of the characters introduced in the stories. The study contributes to the field by providing an example of an innovative intervention that supports students’ learning of statistics and positive beliefs about the usefulness of statistics.
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Keywords
stories, statistics education, business statistics, understanding, beliefs
Citation
Lemieux, C. (2020). The Use of Story-Based Tasks in Post-Secondary Students’ Learning of Statistics (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.