Open AccessTHE ROLE OF CAUSALITY IN THE CO-ORDINATION OF TWO PERSPECTIVES ON DISTRIBUTION WITHIN A VIRTUAL SIMULATION
Author(s) -
Theodosia Prodromou,
Dave Pratt
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
statistics education research journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.538
H-Index - 14
ISSN - 1570-1824
DOI - 10.52041/serj.v5i2.501
Subject(s) - causality (physics) , premise , ordination , situated , construct (python library) , control (management) , computer science , distribution (mathematics) , mathematics education , psychology , epistemology , mathematics , artificial intelligence , mathematical analysis , philosophy , physics , quantum mechanics , machine learning , programming language
Our primary goal is to design a microworld which aspires to research thinking-in- change about distribution. Our premise, in line with a constructivist approach and our prior research, is that thinking about distribution must develop from causal meanings already established. This study reports on a design research study of how students appear to exploit their appreciation of causal control to construct new situated meanings for the distribution of throws and success rates. We provided on- screen control mechanisms for average and spread that could be deterministic or subject to stochastic error. The students used these controls to recognise the limitations of causality in the short term but its power in making sense of the emergence of distributional patterns. We suggest that the concept of distribution lies in co-ordinating emergent data-centric and modelling perspectives for distribution and that causality may play a central role in supporting that co-ordination process.
First published November 2006 at Statistics Education Research Journal Archives