THE EXPERIENCE OF TEACHING STATISTICS TO NON-SPECIALIST STUDENTS IN SAUDI UNIVERSITIES: THE ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY AND LANGUAGE

Abstract

The importance of statistics is not limited to statisticians but also impacts on non-statisticians who have to use statistics.  One important issue is how statistics is best taught to, and learned by, non-specialist students.  The pervasive use of the English language causes additional challenges to learners whose first language is not English, especially when technological resources that use English language, such as statistics software packages, are an integral part of the course.  This paper presents research into the current position in Saudi universities, where there has previously been a lack of research into this topic.  Mixed methods research has been used: a questionnaire survey of 1,053 students and qualitative interviews with 16 teachers of statistics from all colleges within all six universities where statistics is taught to non-specialist students in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Region.  This presentation will discuss differences between the experiences of learners taught in the Arabic and English languages.

Keywords

• Language in statistics,introductory statistics course,non-specialist students,statistical software packages,Saudi Arabia

References

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