ERIC Number: EJ1128178
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016
Pages: 9
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-1069-1898
EISSN: N/A
Assessing Fun Items' Effectiveness in Increasing Learning of College Introductory Statistics Students: Results of a Randomized Experiment
Lesser, Lawrence M.; Pearl, Dennis K.; Weber, John J., III
Journal of Statistics Education, v24 n2 p54-62 2016
There has been a recent emergence of scholarship on the use of fun in the college statistics classroom, with at least 20 modalities identified. While there have been randomized experiments that suggest that fun can enhance student achievement or attitudes in statistics, these studies have generally been limited to one particular fun modality or have not been limited to the discipline of statistics. To address the efficacy of fun items in teaching statistics, a student-randomized experiment was designed to assess how specific items of fun may cause changes in statistical anxiety and learning statistics content. This experiment was conducted at two institutions of higher education with different and diverse student populations. Findings include a significant increase in correct responses to questions among students who were assigned online content with a song insert compared with those assigned content alone.
Descriptors: College Mathematics, Statistics, Introductory Courses, Humor, Mathematics Instruction, Instructional Effectiveness, Mathematics Anxiety, Learning, College Students, Student Attitudes
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: National Science Foundation (NSF)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: DUE1141261; 1141261; 5951140690; 1140592