WebLenses - Learning Problem
Overview
In post-secondary education in today's information age, it is virtually impossible to avoid coming into contact with statistics-based research and learning material. Either as producers of knowledge or information, or consumers of it, whether by choice or by necessity, post-secondary school learners have to deal with publications, research papers, experiments, statements, claims, arguments, conversations, and presentations, that involve "scientifically valid (and 'validated') findings".As producers or consumers of these findings they often face the need to critically examine and analyze the data, requiring knowledge and understanding of statistics terminology, concepts, techniques, and so on.
Without an effective and efficient way for learners to critically assess the legitimacy of some of the seemingly scientific claims made, their ability to make facts-based decisions is seriously impaired. They run the risk of being intentionally or unintentionally misled at least on a professional level, as individuals or in the context of larger (research, project) workgroups and teams.
Learning problem definition
Post-secondary school learners and critical consumers of research and educational content, need to be able to interpret and analyze statistics-based online content, and be able to assess its soundness and validity, in order to further their learning and increase their contributions to society.These learners are often presented with what seems like statistically valid information or research, but it is seldom easy to tell if it really is. Many times, some critical pieces of information are missing (possibly due to lack of space, author awareness, time, honesty). Sometimes, highly technical jargon is being used, or high proficiency in statistics is assumed. Conscientious and critical learners don't have an easy, readily accessible, in-context way to examine, interpret, probe and explore the presented content.
As a result, learners may not be capable of interpreting or drawing informed conclusions, to help and support their professional work or goals. Learners may also be either confused about the statistics-based terms, concepts or techniques, or oblivious of the potential shakiness of the data serving as the input and basis for their knowledge.
WebLenses - Learning Goals
Broadly defined
Given a web-based source (e.g., article, research paper) containing statistical information, terms, processes, and techniques (e.g., research findings listing analyses of variance , sample sizes, means, standard deviations, correlations, t-tests, F-tests, regressions, etc.), the learner will be able to:- Identify missing information or incomplete data in the article
- Compare different conditions resulting in the same/given results, essentially identifying alternative scenarios
- List potential "threats to validity" given the presented information
- Assess the sensitivity of the presented data to different conditions and implicit/explicit assumptions
- Capture ones findings and conclusions, and be able to share with peers and SMEs (Subject Matter Experts).
Specifically addressed by the implemented solution
Given a web-based research article, containing experiment results expressed as t-tests, the learners will be able to:- view SME instructions, guiding them as to what to pay attention to when examining the t-test-based results, in terms of completeness of data, validity (meeting of assumptions), and sensitivity to data changes
- look up the definition, assumptions, and examples of t-tests
- visually and directly manipulate the variables in the context of the article, to test the sensitivity of the t-test results to variations in the data
- capture their findings for either later study, or for communicating with peers and SMEs via email.