An Evaluation of ActivStats for SPSS for Teaching and Learning

This article is a review of the multimedia software package ActivStats for SPSS, a program that teaches introductory statistics concepts and methods using activities that contain narration and animation, video, simulation, and interactive experiments. Using evaluation criteria from the statistics education and instructional technology literature, we consider the usefulness of this software based on a framework of how students learn statistics. Our recommendations about how to best use ActivStats for introductory students as well as limitations of the review conclude the article.

[1]  Michael R. Harwell,et al.  Evaluating Statistics Texts Used in Education , 1996 .

[2]  Joan Garfield Reflections on the Past 15 Years , 1995 .

[3]  P. Cobb Where Is the Mind? Constructivist and Sociocultural Perspectives on Mathematical Development , 1994 .

[4]  Carl J. Schwarz,et al.  An On-Line Workshop Using a Simple Capture-Recapture Experiment to Illustrate the Concepts of a Sampling Distribution , 1997 .

[5]  Khoon Yoong Wong,et al.  Using Simulation on the Internet To Teach Statistics. , 1999 .

[6]  Thomas J. Shuell,et al.  Designing Instructional Computing Systems for Meaningful Learning , 1992 .

[7]  George W. Cobb,et al.  Introductory Textbooks: A Framework for Evaluation , 1987 .

[8]  Jamie D. Mills SPSS TEXTBOOKS: A REVIEW FOR TEACHERS 3 , 2003 .

[9]  P. Hewson,et al.  Accommodation of a scientific conception: Toward a theory of conceptual change , 1982 .

[10]  C. J. Huberty,et al.  Book Review : Applied Multivariate Statistics Textbooks , 1990 .

[11]  R. Bruning Cognitive Psychology and Instruction , 1998 .

[12]  D. S. Moore,et al.  Multimedia for Teaching Statistics: Promises and Pitfalls , 1996 .

[13]  Christopher Ferrall Interactive Statistics Tutorials in Stata , 1995 .

[14]  Jamie D. Mills A Theoretical Framework for Teaching Statistics , 2003 .

[15]  Jamie D. Mills,et al.  Using Computer Simulation Methods to Teach Statistics: A Review of the Literature , 2002 .

[16]  D. Hunt Cognition and Learning , 1989 .

[17]  Jean M. Low Teaching Basic Statistical Concepts through Continuous Data Collection and Feedback , 1995 .

[18]  Lynn Arthur Steen,et al.  Heeding the call for change : suggestions for curricular action , 1992 .

[19]  Erica Morris The design and evaluation of Link: A computer-based learning system for correlation , 2001, Br. J. Educ. Technol..

[20]  Joan Garfield,et al.  A Model of Classroom Research in Action: Developing Simulation Activities to Improve Students' Statistical Reasoning , 1999, Journal of Statistics Education.

[21]  D. S. Moore,et al.  New Pedagogy and New Content: The Case of Statistics , 1997 .

[22]  Joan Garfield,et al.  Assessment and Statistics Education: Current Challenges and Directions , 1999 .

[23]  R. Todd Ogden,et al.  Interactive Demonstrations for Statistics Education on the World Wide Web , 1998 .