| Businesses require statistically literate workers. This means people are capable of critical thinking, can analyze real-world data, and possess the ability to communicate their findings. In 2005, the American Statistical Association endorsed the Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education (GAISE) college report (College Report, 2010), outlining ways to improve statistical literacy. The purpose of this exploratory study was to research a possible method of improving statistical literacy under the recommendations of the 2005 GAISE college report by comparing a combined approach of four online instructional methods to traditional methods of lecture and textbook for the topic of simple linear regression. The participants in the study were from MBA cohorts at a private Midwestern university. The research design was a pretest and posttest model with a control group (traditional methods, N = 11) and quasi-experimental group (combined online methods, N = 9). Using a Mann-Whitney U test, pretest score differences between groups were not statistically significant (z = -.699, p = .485), while posttest scores differences between groups were significant (z = -2.265, p = .024). Using a Wilcoxon signed rank test, the control group pretest and posttest difference was not statistically different (z = -.960, p = .337), while the quasi-experimental group difference was statistically significant (z = -2.263, p = .024). This means the two groups started out the same, but ended up with a difference. The Chi-Square analyses for demographic variables showed no statistically significant difference between the two groups. The results provide evidence that additional research is worth pursuing and that effective and inexpensive online materials are achievable. The online materials are applicable to both corporate and university settings. |
