Impact of Tinkerplots on preservice elementary teachers' understanding of measures of center and graphical representations

Abstract

Scope and Method of Study:

This concurrent embedded mixed methods study investigates the influence of the computer program TinkerplotsTM on 34 preservice elementary teachers' understanding of measures of center and graphical representations of data. Participants' opinions and beliefs about the effectiveness of the program were also explored.

Findings and Conclusions:

At the beginning of the experimental period, participants had marginal understanding of measures of center and graphical representations. Both the control and experimental groups showed an improved understanding at the end of the experimental period. It is still unclear what influence Tinkerplots TM had on the understanding of participants in the experimental group, since quantitative analysis revealed that the experimental group did not perform significantly better than the control group. However, this does not diminish the fact that pre-service elementary teachers need to be statistically literate, and if certain educational tools can enhance their statistical understanding, then utilizing those tools is beneficial. This research study did provide some evidence, through participant responses on multiple instruments, that one such tool, Tinkerplots TM , can be effective in enhancing the statistical learning experience for pre-service elementary teachers. The fact that pre-service teachers believe that the program is effectual, regardless of quantitative analysis to reinforce the belief, can do nothing but encourage educators as to the potential learning experience offered by this type of program. It should be noted that although the analysis of the quantitative data doesn't support a claim of significant influence regarding Tinkerplots TM , it also does nothing to discourage further research and investigation into this area of statistics education.