Contributed Paper C244
In session C4B (Tuesday 10th, 11:00-12:30, Level 3 - Conference Room A)Comparing the efficiency of mathematical V. intuitive explanations in conditional probability
Authors
Sigal Levy (The Academic College of Tel Aviv Yaffo, Israel)Yelena Stukalin (The Academic College of Tel Aviv Yaffo, Israel)
Presenter
Sigal Levy (Israel)Abstract
Some non-intuitive problems pose a challenge to students of probability. Such an example is the Monty Hall paradox, in which information provided by the "show host" is ignored. In our experiment, we provided three groups of students with different explanations of the solution: none, intuitive or technical/mathematical. Following that, we asked the students to solve another non-intuitive problem in conditional probability: what is the probability that twins are both male given (1) one is male, or (2) the older is male. Results show that students that had met the intuitive explanation performed better when solving the second problem. We therefore believe that presenting students with the intuition behind a solution may help them develop flexibility and better understanding of the underlying mechanism of conditional probability.