Open AccessJournal Article
Exploring Students' Conceptions of the Standard Deviation
Robert delMas,Yan Liu +1 more
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This article investigated introductory statistics students' conceptual understanding of the standard deviation and found that students moved from simple, one-dimensional understandings of standard deviation that did not consider variation about the mean to more mean-centered conceptualizations that coordinated the effects of frequency (density) and deviation from the mean.Abstract:
SUMMARY This study investigated introductory statistics students’ conceptual understanding of the standard deviation. A computer environment was designed to promote students’ ability to coordinate characteristics of variation of values about the mean with the size of the standard deviation as a measure of that variation. Twelve students participated in an interview divided into two primary phases, an exploration phase where students rearranged histogram bars to produce the largest and smallest standard deviation, and a testing phase where students compared the sizes of the standard deviation of two distributions. Analysis of data revealed conceptions and strategies that students used to construct their arrangements and make comparisons. In general, students moved from simple, one-dimensional understandings of the standard deviation that did not consider variation about the mean to more mean-centered conceptualizations that coordinated the effects of frequency (density) and deviation from the mean. Discussions of the results and implications for instruction and further research are presented.read more
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References
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Journal ArticleDOI
Accommodation of a scientific conception: Toward a theory of conceptual change
TL;DR: In this paper, a general model of conceptual change is proposed, which is largely derived from current philosophy of science, but which they believe can illuminate * This model is partly based on a paper entitled "Learning Special Relativity: A Study of Intellectual Problems Faced by College Students,” presented at the International Conference Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of Albert Einstein, November 8-10, 1979 at Hofstra University.
Journal ArticleDOI
The Role of Anomalous Data in Knowledge Acquisition: A Theoretical Framework and Implications for Science Instruction
Clark A. Chinn,William F. Brewer +1 more
TL;DR: In this article, a detailed analysis of the ways in which scientists and science students respond to anomalous data is presented, giving special attention to the factors that make theory change more likely.