Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to suggest an instructional approach in the introductory business statistics course that utilizes relationships between separately introduced topics. The paper will explore three “useful relationships” that can assist classroom instruction: (1) the relationship between the simple arithmetic mean, the weighted arithmetic mean, and the expected value of a discrete probability distribution; (2) the relationship between the use of the multiplication rule to calculate the joint probability associated with two events, use of tree diagrams, and the use of the binomial and hypergeometric distributions; and (3) the relationship between the geometric mean and the compound interest rate. Each discussion includes detailed examples of calculations to demonstrate the relationships.
Highlights
In most any courses of instruction, students receive a considerable amount of information that, to them, appears unrelated and isolated
The purpose of this paper is to present and encourage the utilization of “relationships” that are present in statistics but often appear to be isolated topics to students
Three such relationships are discussed in detail: (1) the relationship between the simple arithmetic mean, the weighted arithmetic mean, and expected value of a discrete probability distribution; (2) the relationship between the use of the multiplication rule to calculate joint probabilities, use of tree diagrams, and the use of the binomial and hypergeometric probability distributions; and (3) the relationship between the geometric mean and the compound interest rate
Summary
In most any courses of instruction, students receive a considerable amount of information that, to them, appears unrelated and isolated. This inability to relate topics is apparent in the introductory business statistics course. In many cases each equation appears, to many students, to be totally unrelated to any material previously studied In such circumstances, the students believe that each topic is independent and that the material learned previously does not help in understanding a new topic. The students believe that each topic is independent and that the material learned previously does not help in understanding a new topic Such thinking is really far from reality
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