Greater Emphasis on Variation in an Introductory Statistics Course
Karla Ballman Macalester College
Journal of Statistics Education v.5, n.2 (1997)
In this article There has been a push for more conceptual understanding of
statistics then for mathematical formulas in statistics. Focusing mainly on probability and
probability formulas. As more and more stats courses tend to the understanding of
understanding than mathematical and probabilistic concepts, there is still according to
Ballman, still teach probability formally. Ballman suggests that we teach probability in a
way that includes more activities to fix the findings of Konold and achieve better
statistical reasoning.
I think that is idea to “teach probability in light” is a great way to bring a better
understanding of probability. Providing a guide for instructors has been a great way for
me to see how this concept will work in a classroom. By providing a lesson place I am
able to see the structure that Ballman was trying to achieve and implement this into my
classroom. I feel his approach will not infer in any learning and too provide a greater
understanding for my students.
After reading this article I will be trying this setting in my classroom. I can see
that the importance of variation to later subjects in statistics. As I teach my students in
probability this will be a topic that I reference several times in lesson planning. My goal
is to find a gel that would be plausible to interlace both Ballman and the textbooks.
Balman’s approach would have a better conceptual understanding to probability that
would be more realistic for students to retain in real life.