ERIC Number: EJ1083967
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015-Nov
Pages: 21
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-1570-1824
EISSN: N/A
Students' Reasoning about p-Values
Aquilonius, Birgit C.; Brenner, Mary E.
Statistics Education Research Journal, v14 n2 p7-27 Nov 2015
Results from a study of 16 community college students are presented. The research question concerned how students reasoned about p-values. Students' approach to p-values in hypothesis testing was procedural. Students viewed p-values as something that one compares to alpha values in order to arrive at an answer and did not attach much meaning to p-values as an independent concept. Therefore it is not surprising that students often were puzzled over how to translate their statistical answer to an answer of the question asked in the problem. Some reflections on how instruction in statistical hypothesis testing can be improved are given.
Descriptors: Logical Thinking, Two Year College Students, Community Colleges, Statistics, Hypothesis Testing, Mathematics Instruction, College Mathematics, Misconceptions, Probability, Problem Solving, Interviews, Graphs
International Association for Statistics Education and the International Statistical Institute. PO Box 24070, 2490 AB The Hague, The Netherlands. Tel: +31-70-3375737; Fax: +31-70-3860025; e-mail: isi@cbs.nl; Web site: http://www.stat.auckland.ac.nz/~iase/serj
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Two Year Colleges; Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: California
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A