This paper is from Session 7G: Statistics for non-quantitative majors

which comes under Topic 7: Statistics education and the wider society

Other papers under session 7G ... 7G2: Luring non-quantitative majors into advanced statistical reasoning... 7G3: A five step framework for interpreting tables and graphs in their... 7G4: How we can all learn to think critically about data

(Tuesday 13th, 14:00-16:00)

Using media reports to promote statistical literacy for non-quantitative majors

Presenter

• Stephanie Budgett (University of Auckland, New Zealand)

Co-author

• Maxine Pfannkuch (University of Auckland, New Zealand)

Abstract

At The University of Auckland we teach an undergraduate course entitled Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics, the purpose of which is to facilitate students to “think statistically” when confronted with evidence-based arguments. In this paper we first describe how we use media reports in teaching to enhance students’ ability to understand and evaluate statistically based information. Second, we report our observations on interviews we conducted with three non-quantitative and three quantitative majors seven months after they completed the course. A comparison of their responses to two media reports does not suggest any meaningful difference between the two groups in terms of their understanding of statistically-based information. There does however appear to be a difference in the way the two groups explain their understanding. Possible reasons for these observations are discussed.

Other papers under session 7G ... 7G2: Luring non-quantitative majors into advanced statistical reasoning... 7G3: A five step framework for interpreting tables and graphs in their... 7G4: How we can all learn to think critically about data