ABSTRACT
We are exploring the use of complex simulation gaming as a pedagogical strategy for developing students' statistical reasoning capabilities in the context of realistic problem-solving situations. Our work is motivated by several different strands of research and theory. First, we are attempting to address problems revealed by recent studies showing that many professional and lay adults in mainstream American society are not proficient at reasoning probabilistically or statistically about important societal issues. This is the case even though literacy and informed decision making today require at least informal (if not formal/computational) probabilistic and statistical thinking (e.g., Konold, 1989; Kuhn, 1991; Tversky & Kahneman, 1974). Second, in response to recent widespread interest in situated cognition (e.g., Lave, 1991), we are testing an instructional approach that reflects the theoretical perspective of Vygotsky (e.g., 1978). Vygotsky argued that transmission of scientific thought to broader cultures requires particular forms of social interaction, recently called "cognitive apprenticeship" (e.g., Collins, Brown, & Newman, 1989). Our instructional philosophy also borrows from: (a) the teachings of Dewey 0938), who advocated meaningful school practice that extends adult society, and (b) radical constructivism (e.g., von Glasersfeld, 1990), which values educational practice based on reflective activity-rather than idea transmission-in which students build up new knowledge and understandings through social and physical interaction with the instructional environment.
