A Study of the Effect of Using Simulations on Students' Learning of Inferential Statistics in the Elementary Statistics Classes in the Mathematics Department of the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee

Abstract

This thesis reports the results of a studying into the use of simulation-based teaching in Introductory Statistics Class to analyze the effectiveness of this teaching strategy. We give a brief overview of the more recent research into the impact of using computer simulations in an introductory statistics course in order to deepen student understanding of inferential statistics along with the a look at a similar study recently conducted at another university. We then give a review of our study conducted in Math Stat 215 classes at UW-Milwaukee to evaluate whether or not the use of simulations in this introductory statistics class will help cause students to reach a deeper understanding of the underlying concepts of inferential statistics. We conclude with the possible impact that this research can have on future studies at the university.