Peer Review

Hypothesis Test for a Mean

Material Detail page

Reviewed:: Jan 10, 2005 by Statistics

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Ratings

Overall Rating:

Content Quality:

Effectiveness:

Ease of Use:

Overview:: A series of step by step word problems guiding users through the process of
conducting a hypothesis test for a mean. Hints are available if the user is
stumped as well as when the user makes a mistake. The user is only able to
progress to the next step once they have provided the correct answer to each
part.
Type of Material:: Java applet providing students with drill and practice with hypothesis tests.
Recommended Uses:: Could be used as independent drill exercise for students who
need extra work but would be most effective in a laboratory where small teams
could work together or where feedback could be provided by a laboratory
instructor.
Technical Requirements:: Internet connection supporting Java applets.
Identify Major Learning Goals:: The learning goals assisted by using this item are for students to know how to
identify one versus two-tailed hypothesis tests based on a simplified contextual
description of the situation. The overall goal is to assist students in
learning to extract relevant information from a simple story problem to use in a
test of hypothesis.
Target Student Population:: The target population is students in an introductory statistical methods course.
In particular for students who need additional drill and practice in the
application of hypothesis testing in a simple situation.
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:: Students must know the steps in hypothesis testing, know normal (Z) critical
values, or know where to find them.

Content Quality

Rating:
Strengths:: This item produces a large number practice problems which build confidence. The
item presents material in a simple, correct manner. Hypotheses are stated
and critical values identified before calculations are required. The vocabulary
and notation are basic and should work with most textbooks.
Concerns:: The basic graphics do little to enhance understanding of the concepts. Although
the applet gives the students a senerio in which to work it does little
to connect the calculations to the real world senerio. It might be helpful to
have students give more detailed explanations of the hypotheses in real world
context not just in symbols.

Also the applet asks the student to assume a population standard deviation,
which is unrealistic in most of the senerios. This allows the student to use
the z-table to find critical values but blurs the conceptual understanding of
why a z-table can be used.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:
Strengths:: The content is applicable to most introductory statistics courses and the drill
aspects of the item will be of use to students requiring this repetition to
quickly gain confidence. The summary that explains the material in words helps
to develop higher level thinking.
Concerns:: Discrepancies in numeric answers due to rounding off may cause some students to
have trouble computing an answer that is close enough to the answer key to be
acceptable even though they have learned the material. A more media-rich
presentation would help engage students in the material more. Another issue is
the fact that all the problems read exactly the same. The hypothesized mean is
the first number, the direction of the alternate is the first part of the next
sentence, etc. This may make it more difficult for students to work with
problems that are not in this format. Finally the material does all tests from
a critical value point of view rather than a p-value point of view. This will
make it difficult to integrate with texts that push the p-value as the deciding
summary.

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:
Strengths:: The layout of the context statement is the same from one example to the next as
is the layout for responses. The item can be used without technical support or
unreasonable technical resources.
Concerns:: Minor changes in the formatting of the instructions may make them more
appealing.

Other Issues and Comments:: This is a straightforward tool for providing additional opportunities for drill
in using the one-sample z-test for a single mean.
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