Interactive Learning Environment Supporting Visualization in the Teaching of Probability

Abstract

Abstract The probability is exceptional in the teaching of mathematics because students often have difficulties to understand the basic terms and the problem solving strategies. Understanding lacks of the probability concept and various types of misconceptions arise from the misleading intuition and misinterpretations of experience with the stochastic phenomena. The probability concept seems too abstract to some students therefore it is advisable to use mathematical problems based on real-life ideas, such as drug efficacy testing, tests for diagnosing of diseases in medicine, sports competitions, and games. By eliminating misconceptions and improving understanding of the problem solving strategies, it is possible to use various types of visualization to solve problems from this field of mathematics. Tables and different types of graphic diagrams can help students to understand the basic rules and problem solving techniques. This paper describes the main objectives and the structure of an interactive worksheet, prepared in spreadsheet environment, in which students are guided to use the visualization to solve probability problems. The implementation of an automatic feedback enables to evaluate the students’ answers. In the case of incorrect answer, solutions of the additional tasks using tree diagram or a tangram are recommended to the students. Students can decide which type of the visualization is more understandable for them to solve the probability of random events. Solving different task sequences using the selected types of visualization allows more learning paths for students. The final part of the paper contains an evaluation of the results and experiences of problem solving in the teaching of probability at grammar schools.