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The Development Of Introductory Statistics Students' Informal Inferential Reasoning And Its Relationship To Formal Inferential Reasoning, Bridgette Lynn Jacob

Teaching and Leadership - Dissertations

The difficulties introductory statistics students have with formal statistical inference are well known in the field of statistics education. "Informal" statistical inference has been studied as a means to introduce inferential reasoning well before and without the formalities of formal statistical inference. This mixed methods study investigated the development of introductory statistics students' informal inferential reasoning and its relationship to their formal inferential reasoning. A pre/posttest was administered to 136 students enrolled in introductory statistics classes taught in their secondary schools. Four task-based interviews were also conducted with seven pairs of those students.

With probabilistic reasoning essential for formal statistical …