ENHANCING THE TEACHING OF PROBABILITY AND

PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTIONS IN UPPER SECONDARY

USING COMPUTER GRAPHICS

Tema: Pengintegrasian ICT dalam Pengajaran dan Pembelajaran (P&P)

Rasimah Aripin
Pusat Pengajian Statistik
Fakulti Teknologi Maklumat dan Sains Kuantitatif
Universiti Teknologi MARA
Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
drasimah@salam.uitm.edu.my

Aidawati Zainan Abidin

Pusat Pengajian Statistik
Fakulti Teknologi Maklumat dan Sains Kuantitatif
Universiti Teknologi MARA
Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
aida@tmsk.uitm.edu.my

Abstract

Probability theory has been applied in many disciplines such as business, life sciences, humanities,
education, agriculture, and the social sciences. Currently, basic probability concepts are taught at
the secondary level in the Additional Mathematics subject for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM)
examination. However, the focus is more on the computational aspect rather than on building the
underlying principles of probability and probability distributions. Furthermore, since examination
questions on this topic are not compulsory, very often they are neglected by both students and
teachers. As a result, students are not able to build their reasoning and judgment skills acquired
through the principles of probability at an early age. In order to enhance the interest in learning
probability, new approach need to be introduced. Many studies have found that the use of simulation,
animation and graphics visualization are effective for teaching difficult and abstract concepts
commonly found in mathematics and statistics, such as probability. This paper presents the use of
computer graphics to enhance the teaching of basic probability and probability distribution concepts.
These graphics can be developed from widely available open source software. The teaching
materials proposed can be extended to enhance the teaching of other abstract mathematical
concepts such as functions, differentiation and integration.

Keywords
Probability, probability distributions, computer graphics

1. INTRODUCTION

Statistics and probability provides the faculty to develop reasoning and judgment skills. It is now
widely recognized that the foundations for statistical reasoning should be built in the earliest years of
schooling rather than being reserved for high school or university studies (NCTM, 2000). Statistics
has already been established as a vital part of the secondary school mathematics curriculum in many
countries (Chacko, 2002; Accrombessy, 2006; Parsian & Rejali, 2008). However, inadequate
attention has been paid to teaching practices. There is substantial evidence of poor understanding
and insufficient preparation to teach statistical concepts among mathematics teachers assigned to
teach statistics and probability (Serradó and Azcárate, 2006). Most are likely to have weak
understanding of the statistical concepts they are expected to teach and as a result, tend to focus on
the computational procedure rather than on conceptual understanding. Problem arises when
secondary school leavers proceed to pursue tertiary education where most academic programmes
require at least one semester of statistics and probability course. They also need the analytical
competency when conducting research projects required at the various stages of their studies.

Results from a study by Albert (2003) indicate that students were generally confused about the
classical, frequency, and subjective notions of probabilities. Although the students were able to solve
routine probability problems, they were not competent in other situations. Many methods have been
proposed. to enhance the effectiveness in the teaching of difficult and abstract concepts commonly
found in mathematics and statistics Among them are using simulation and visualisation with
computer graphics. This paper proposes the use of computer graphics to enhance the teaching of
basic probability and probability distribution topics at the secondary school level. The use of these
materials can be extended to teach other abstract mathematical concepts such as functions,
differentiation and integration which have vast applications in statistics and probability. Many of these
graphics courseware are readily available online or can be developed from widely available open-
source software.

2. STATISTICS AND PROBABILITY AT THE SPM LEVEL

Statistics is one of the five components of the core package in the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM)
Additional Mathematics syllabus (Ministry of Education, 2006). Probability and probability
distributions are two of the four topics under this component. In the SPM examination, Paper 1
consists of between 2-4 questions under this component, usually on combination, permutation and
probability of events, worth a total of between 10-16 marks. Section A of Paper 2 requires students to
answer only routine questions on frequency distribution and descriptive statistics such as mean and
standard deviation, while Section B has one question on Binomial and Normal probabilities. Table 1
summarises the contents of the SPM Additional Mathematics Paper 2, 2007. The marks allocated to
questions on statistics and probabilities are very minimal compared with the other components. For
example, students may ignore the probability topics totally and this will not affect their chances of
getting good grades. Initial investigations also reveal that topics such as probability and probability
distributions, being among the last topics on the syllabus, are often received minimal attention or even
totally left out.

Further review of previous years’ examination papers reveals that questions on statistics and
probability focus on routine tasks, which encourages rote learning. The questions are very similar
from year to year which could be due to the limited content covered in the statistics component. As
suggested by Curcio (1987), even at the secondary level, examination questions should go beyond
the data by testing on the underlying concepts. Limited content is partly due to the lack of appropriate
courseware to teach probability as it is not a simple concept to illustrate in a traditional classroom. As
a result, it is not surprising if teachers and students did not see the importance of statistics at the
secondary level when in reality, it is required in higher education to build the foundation for analytical
competency in research undertakings.
 Table 1: Components of the Additional Mathematics Paper 2, Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia 2007

Section Requirement Questions on Statistics and Probability Marks

A Answer all 6 questions Question 5: Complete a frequency 6
distribution, compute the inter-quartile
range

B Answer 4 out of 5 Question 11: Binomial and normal 10

questions probabilities
C Answer 2 out of 5 None 0
questions

3. USING GRAPHICS FOR TEACHING PROBABILITY AND PROBABILITY

DISTRIBUTIONS

Computer environments have the potential to extend children’s experiences and foster a rich
exploratory approach to the study of early mathematical concepts (Drier, 2000; Schneider, 2007).
There are quite a number of free coursewares for probability and probability distributions available for
use. Among them are ESBPDF Analysis, Probability Explorer, Adaptive Statistics Tutor and e-
Methodology. Numerous open source software can also be used to develop interactive teaching
modules appropriate for the statistics component of the SPM Additional Mathematics syllabus. The
graphical capabilities of such software enable complex concepts to be illustrated in classrooms, to
enhance the understanding needed before performing manual calculations required for examinations.
This section presents some illustrations of graphical capabilities and probability computations
provided by ESBPDF Analysis and an open source software, R.

ESBPDF ANALYSIS

ESBPDF Analysis provides everything needed for using discrete (Binomial, Hypergeometric and
Poisson) and continuous probability distributions (for example, Normal, Exponential and
Exponential) in a single application. Other useful features are binomial coefficients, factorials,
permutation; standard normal table and critical t values. For a small fee of less than RM100,
ESBPDF Analysis is ideal for those who wish to understand probability and probability distributions
better.

Figure 1 shows the Analysis window for selecting the distribution of interest, setting up the
parameters of the distribution and selecting the probability region to be computed. The resulting
probability is provided on the same window. The corresponding region under the graph can be
viewed in the Graph window (Figure 2). This interface allows a student to visualize the shapes of
various distributions, in particular, binomial and normal distributions, with given sets of parameters.
This is especially useful for exploring more examples on probability computations under various
probability distributions, which may not be previously possible.
 Figure 1: Setting up the parameters for Binomial(8,0.5) and Prob(3≤X≤6)

Figure 2: Graph for P( 3≤X≤6) when X is Binomial(8,0.5)

An example of a probability computation for the normal distribution is shown in Figure 3 while the
corresponding area under the curve is in Figure 4. The illustration is for the computation of the
probability that a random normal variate from a N(130, 16) distribution is between 114 and 150. This
problem is one of the questions on probability in Paper 2 of the SPM examination Additional
Mathematics paper, 2007. Using this feature, a student will be able to visualise different areas under
the curve corresponding to given events of interest.
 Figure 3: Analysis window for computing probability under the normal distribution

While ESBPDF is sufficient for simple computations of probabilities, it is not sufficient for
demonstrating underlying concepts in probability and probability distributions. For instance, it lacks
the capability to compare the same distribution with different shapes or different distributions, such as
the t-distribution and the normal distribution on the same graph. In addition, the features are quite
rigid with no options for modifications or adding new features to the existing graphics.

Figure 4: Analysis window for the computation of normal probability

R for Probability and Probability Distributions

R is an open source software for statistics that provides an environment for data analysis and
graphics. With R codes, one can create sophisticated graphs, carry out statistical analyses, and run
simulations. R is also a programming language with an extensive set of built-in functions that allows
the user to extend the language and write their own code to build customized applications. Advanced
users can even incorporate functions written in other languages, such as C, C++, and Fortran. There
are several reasons that make R an excellent choice of statistical software for an introductory
statistical course to teach a range of topics from descriptive statistics to statistical modeling. First, R is
free and available on the Web and thus can be used on home computers. Second, R is a powerful,
widely-used software with new codes actively being shared among users on the web. Third, even
though it is not the simplest statistical software, the basics are easy to learn.

R provides excellent choice of graphics parameters, which includes 657 different shades and colors to
choose from to make your graphics presentation appealing to the users, especially young learners of
abstract concepts such as probability. Figure 5 demonstrates the relationships between parameters
and shapes of normal distributions produced using R codes. These relationships are not easily
demonstrated without the aid of such graphics. A sample of codes written in the interactive mode of
the software is shown in Figure 6 while the resulting graphics are in Figure 7. Other than generating
graphics for teaching probabilities under normal and binomial distributions, R also provides excellent
graphics for demonstrating data presentations for introductory statistics course such as pie chart, box
plot, stem-and leaf and line plots as shown in Figure 8.

Figure 5: Comparing the shapes of three normal distributions using R

Figure 6: R codes for selected probabilities under Normal(130,16)
Figure 7: Probabilities under Normal(130, 16) distribution

Figure 8: Probabilities under Binomial(8,0.5) distribution

 Figure 9: Graphics for data presentation

4. CONCLUSIONS
There are advantages when using graphics software such as R to teach abstract concepts including
probability and probability distributions. Plotting and exploring various distributions with different
combinations of parameters help to internalize the concepts of probability under the various
distributions and parameters. Traditional classroom teaching of probability and probability distributions
are greatly constrained to simple distributions and computational aspects only. In view of this, a
project is being undertaken to develop the courseware to cater for the statistics component of the
SPM Additional Mathematics paper. Other than graphics, animations and simulations are to be
incorporated in the courseware which should be appealing even to pupils in primary schools to learn
probability.

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