PROCEEDINGS OF THE 20TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH IN UNDERGRADUATE MATHEMATICS EDUCATION
2017
San Diego, California
Students’ understanding of test statistics in hypothesis testing
Page: 82
Hypothesis testing is a key concept included in many introductory statistics courses. Yet, due to common misunderstandings of both scientists and students, the use of hypothesis testing to interpret experimental data has received criticism. With statistics education on the rise as well as an increasing number of students enrolling in introductory statistics courses each year, there is a need for research that investigates students’ understanding and curriculum effectiveness of hypothesis testing. This paper describes results obtained from a larger study designed to explore introductory statistics students’ understanding of one sample hypothesis testing. In particular, this paper explores students’ understanding of test statistic as a component of hypothesis testing. APOS Theory is used as a guiding theoretical framework. This paper focuses on three students’ understandings of test statistic when performing hypothesis tests on real world data.