Statistics is of critical importance to engineers. However, many engineering students struggle to grasp the meaning of statistical concepts and the idiosyncrasies of statistical methodologies. Because of this problem, instructors of statistics are constantly searching for better ways to help students understand statistical concepts. The goal of this project is to design and develop web-based lessons that use graphics and animations to enhance the effectiveness of students’ learning of statistical concepts.
Lessons of three important statistical concepts have been developed for this thesis - normal distribution, central limit theorem and confidence & tolerance intervals - following well-recognized instructional design development processes and principles. A between-subject experiment was conducted with 20 freshmen engineering students as research participants. The experimental results suggest that compared to the traditional instruction method, the web-based lessons can significantly enhance students’ learning outcomes (by 29.8%) and their satisfaction with the learning process (by 19.2%).