Directed Self-Explanation in the Study of Statistics

Constructivist learning theory has suggested that students can only obtain conceptual understanding of a knowledge domain by actively trying to integrate new concepts and ideas into their existing knowledge framework. In practice, this means that students will have to explain novel ideas, concepts, and principles to themselves. Various methods have been developed that aim to stimulate the student to self-explain. In this study, two such methods were contrasted in a randomized experiment. In one condition students were stimulated to self-explain in an undirected way. In the other the stimulus to self-explain was directed. We examined whether the directive method leads to a greater level of conceptual understanding. To assess conceptual understanding we asked students to construct a concept map and to take a 10-item multiple-choice test. The results are somewhat contradictory but do suggest that the directive method may be of value. We discuss the possibility of integrating that method in the statistics curriculum.