Lorena Masangkay Halili and Melanio Trillanes Olea
Guided by the conceptual change theory, this study was conducted to determine the effect of the Qualitative Reasoning Approach (QRA) in the conceptual understanding in Statistics. The study utilized the quasi-experimental research design, specifically the pretest-posttest, nonequivalent control group design. The research combined quantitative and qualitative techniques in analyzing the data. The Qualitative Reasoning Approach (QRA) is a problem solving strategy that emphasized both quantitative and qualitative aspects of problem solving in Statistics. The respondents of the study were first year Psychology majors from the College of Arts and Sciences of the Rizal Technological University enrolled in Statistics 1 (Descriptive Statistics and Probability) during the second semester of Academic Year 2010 – 2011. To determine the effect of the QRA on the students’ conceptual understanding of Statistics, the pretest and posttest scores in the Statistics Concepts Inventory (SCI) test was utilized. Analysis of the data gathered indicated that the QRA in solving worded problems significantly improved the students’ conceptual understanding as revealed by the results of the t – test for two independent samples tested at 0.05 level of significance. Drawn from this study are the following conclusions; (a) The pretest mean scores of the experimental and control groups are similar and respondents from both groups are low achievers; (b) The post test score of the experimental group is higher than the post test score of the control group in the Problem Solving Test; (c) The pretest mean scores of the experimental group do not significantly differ with the pretest mean scores of the control group. (d) There is a significant difference in the posttest average scores using the Problem Solving Test; and (e) Significant differences exist in the performance of the experimental and control groups on their pretest and posttest mean scores in SCI.
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