The Role of Statistical Software in Teaching Data Analysis

Abstract

Teaching statistics at the university level is constantly changing due to the influence of modern technology. Statistical software for computations and visual representations, enable students’ active knowledge constructions by “doing” and “seeing” statistics. In this paper a case study of teaching statistical data analysis using software is described. The environmental science degree at the Polytechnic University of Valencia (Spain), includes a statistics course whose contents mainly are data analysis tools. Solving environmental problems requires the proper application of data analysis methods. This paper presents the methodology used to teach this subject. The use of software is an important part of the course. The ten computer laboratory activities of the course are described and some examples are given. Assessment results of these classes are analyzed. The comparison of students’ average marks in the evaluations shows that they are significantly smaller in the sessions devoted to univariate descriptive analysis, discrete probability methods, and introduction to advanced data analysis. There are significant differences between the average marks of students. They are heterogeneous in their backgrounds which is an important factor to influence the teaching-learning process of the course.