Probabilistic simulations have long served as instructional tools in statistics and probability education. With advances in technology, computer simulation environments where large quantities of data can be collected and analyzed have been suggested as venues for problem solving in contexts involving both known and unknown probability…

The study presented in this article examined the impact of two simulation-based inference activities on students' understanding of p-values in a second undergraduate statistics course. In the study, students familiar with traditional inference methods used physical and computer simulations to estimate p-values. To examine students' conceptions…

Examining the sequential patterns of self-regulated learning (SRL) behaviors is gaining popularity to understand students' performance differences. However, few studies have looked at the transition probabilities among different SRL behaviors. Moreover, there is a lack of research investigating the temporal structures of students' SRL behaviors…

The use of computer simulations in the teaching of introductory statistics can help undergraduate students understand difficult or abstract statistics concepts. The free software environment R is a good candidate for computer simulations since it allows users to add additional functionality by defining new functions. In this paper, we illustrate…

Teaching some concepts in statistics greatly benefits from individual practice with immediate feedback. In order to provide such practice to a large number of students we have written a simulator based on an historical event: the loss in May 22, 1968, and subsequent search for the nuclear submarine USS Scorpion. Students work on a simplified…

Technology and games are the areas where learners are most interested in today's world. If these two can be brought together within the framework of learning objectives, they can be an advantage for teachers and students. This study aims to investigate the learning environment supported by game and simulation. The games were used to evaluate the…

Objective: Training programs exist that prepare college students, faculty, and staff to identify and support students potentially at risk for suicide. Kognito is an online program that trains users through simulated interactions with virtual humans. This study evaluated Kognito's effectiveness in preparing users to intervene with at-risk students.…

The majority of university students in the United Arab Emirates are English language learners. As a country that has only recently established its educational system based on an American model, it has adopted English as its language for teaching and learning. Challenges related to the use of a second language have been noted and simple…

This study considers probability models as tools for both making informal statistical inferences and building stronger conceptual connections between data and chance topics in teaching statistics. In this paper, we aim to explore pre-service mathematics teachers' use of probability models for a chance game, where the sum of two dice matters in…

As literature has reported, it is usual that university students in statistics courses, and even statistics teachers, interpret the confidence level associated with a confidence interval as the probability that the parameter value will be between the lower and upper interval limits. To confront this misconception, class activities have been…

English language learners (ELLs) are a rapidly growing part of the student population in many countries. Studies on resources for language learners--especially Spanish-speaking ELLs--have focused on areas such as reading, writing, and mathematics, but not introductory probability and statistics. Semi-structured qualitative interviews investigated…

In the criminal justice system, defendants accused of a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty. Statistical inference in any context is built on an analogous principle: The null hypothesis--often a hypothesis of "no difference" or "no effect"--is presumed true unless there is sufficient evidence against it. In this…

The goal of this paper is to promote computational thinking among mathematics, engineering, science and technology students, through hands-on computer experiments. These activities have the potential to empower students to learn, create and invent with technology, and they engage computational thinking through simulations, visualizations and data…

This article attempts to introduce the reader to computational thinking and solving problems involving randomness. The main technique being employed is the Monte Carlo method, using the freely available software "R for Statistical Computing." The author illustrates the computer simulation approach by focusing on several problems of…

This study aimed to gain knowledge of students' beliefs and difficulties in understanding p-values, and to use this knowledge to develop improved teaching programs. This study took place over four consecutive teaching semesters of a one-semester tertiary statistics unit. The study was cyclical, in that the results of each semester were used to…