ABSTRACT
Although statistical textbooks usually provide an example of constructing a sampling distribution of the mean, these examples are often abstract and require the student to conceptualize the process of selecting a number of samples of a certain size from a theoretical population. Zerbolio (1989) suggested one technique for presenting examples of sampling distributions, in which the instructor uses imaginary bags of marbles and chips to demonstrate the concepts. Although this technique may allow students to n ore easily visualize the process of creating sampling distributions, some may still have difficulty understanding the process and may respond more readily to a concrete, hands-on example. Concrete examples increase understanding of abstract, scientific concepts (Brown & Kane, 1988; Chen, Yanowitz, & Daehler, 1995) because students are more likely to pay attention to and use relevant information from examples, as compared to attending to and using relevant information from abstract instructions (LeFevre & Dixon, 1986). Therefore, we developed a hands-on, in-class demonstration, during which students create an actual sampling distribution of the mean using M&M’s®. To test the effectiveness of our concrete example, we compared performance and attitudes of two statistics classes, with one class receiving the M&M demonstration and the other class receiving equivalent instruction using a textbook example.
