Abstract Sampling distributions are fundamental to an understanding of statistical inference, yet research shows that students in introductory statistics courses tend to have multiple misconceptions of this important concept. A common instructional method used to address these misconceptions is computer simulation, often preceded by hands-on simulation activities. However, the results on computer simulation activities’ effects on student understanding of sampling distributions, and if hands-on simulation activities are necessary, are mixed. In this article, we describe an empirical intervention study in which each of eight discussion sections of an introductory statistics course at a large research university was assigned to one of two in-class activity sequences on sampling distributions: one consisting of computer simulation activities preceded by hands-on simulation using dice, cards, or tickets, and the other comprised of computer simulation alone with the same time-on-task. Using a longitudinal model of changes in standardized exam scores across three exams, we found significant evidence that students who took part in a hands-on activity before computer simulation had better improvement from the first midterm to the final exam, on average, compared to those who only did computer simulations. Supplementary materials for this article are available online.

中文翻译：

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教学抽样分布的模拟方法：动手练习应优先于计算机吗？

摘要抽样分布是理解统计推断的基础，但研究表明，统计学入门课程的学生往往对这个重要概念有多种误解。用于解决这些误解的常见教学方法是计算机模拟，通常在动手进行模拟活动之前。但是，计算机模拟活动的结果对学生对样本分布的理解的影响以及如果需要动手模拟活动的结果是混合的。在本文中，我们描述了一项经验干预研究，其中将大型研究型大学的入门级统计课程的八个讨论部分中的每个部分分配给两个关于抽样分布的课堂活动序列之一：一种由计算机模拟活动组成，然后使用骰子，卡片或票证进行动手模拟，另一种由单独的具有相同任务时间的计算机模拟组成。使用三个考试中标准化考试成绩变化的纵向模型，我们发现大量证据表明，与那些模拟考试相比，参加计算机模拟之前动手实践的学生从第一学期到最终考试的平均水平要好得多谁只做计算机模拟。可在线获得本文的补充材料。我们发现大量证据表明，与仅进行计算机模拟的学生相比，参加计算机模拟之前的动手活动的学生从第一学期到期末考试的平均水平要好得多。可在线获得本文的补充材料。我们发现大量证据表明，与仅进行计算机模拟的学生相比，参加计算机模拟之前的动手活动的学生从第一学期到期末考试的平均水平要好得多。可在线获得本文的补充材料。