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

Year 2014, Volume: 1 , 166 - 172, 01.09.2014

Abdullah Alomır John H. Mccoll Catherine Bovıll

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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