A Study of Student Reaction to the Use of Minitab in an Introductory Statistics Course

Traditionally, the introductory statistics course, Principles of Statistics (STAT 101), at Iowa State University has been taught without reference to a statistical analysis computing package.Although important for the implementation of statistical techniques, a computer component has been perceived by instructors to take time away from the coverage of statistical topics.To gauge students' reactions to the usefulness of a statistical computing package, an experiment was conducted during the fall term of 1986.Volunteers from a STAT 101 class were randomly assigned to either a control group or a computer use group.Both groups filled out questionnaires at the beginning and end of the semester.During the semester, the computer use group had access to and instruction in the use of Minitab.This instruction was tied to homework and laboratory assignments for the course.This article presents results of this experiment.On the basis of the responses to the questionnaires, the value of a statistical computing package as a pedagogical tool is examined.Recommendations for the use of a statistical computing package in a large introductory statistics course are made.