Effectiveness of Simulation Training on Transfer of Statistical Concepts
Author
Lane, David M.; Tang, Zhihua
Date
2000Abstract
The effectiveness of simulations for teaching statistical concepts was
compared to the effectiveness of a textbook. The variable Medium (simulation
versus textbook) and Question specificity (Specific versus Nonspecific),
were manipulated factorially. Question specificity was defined
as follows: Subjects were presented with a scenario in which gumballs
were sampled from an urn. Subjects in the “Specific” condition were given
a specific question about the outcome of the sampling procedure to consider;
subjects in the “Non-specific” condition were asked generally to
consider what would happen. A no-treatment control was included. The
subjects consisted of 115 college students. The dependent variable was
performance on problems requiring subjects to apply what they learned to
ill defined everyday problems. Subjects trained by simulation performed
significantly better than those trained with a textbook. Subjects in the
“Specific” condition performed better than those in the “Non-specific”
condition, although the difference did not reach conventional levels of
significance. These results support the increasing use of simulation in education
and training.
Citation
Type
Journal article