O contributo do Excel no estudo da estatística em ambientes virtuais de aprendizagem

Abstract

In the new era of information and communication technologies, everyday it appears high technical tools which are strongly used in various branches, by society in general and particularly in educational environments, where distance education does not stay aside of this development. In this context, the present paper makes an approach on the contribution of Excel in the study of statistics in learning virtual environment, which are largely used by many institutions in several countries of the world, in their distance education systems. More precisely, I am trying to verify up to which extent the use of Excel sheet facilitates mathematical written communication in a Web based environment. Araya (2007) considers Excel a package able to help the teaching-learning process of statistics. The research was carried out in a case study strategy, with a pilot study and the main study. The data collection was based on techniques of inquiry, documentary analysis, direct and participant observation with a view to methodical triangulation. For the analysis of data we opted for an essentially qualitative method, although we benefit from quantitative data whenever necessary. The results show that the use of Excel facilitates the grouping of a large number of data, makes its synthesis easier and determinates its statistics, saves time of doing calculations, facilitates the construction of tables and graphics of different types, among other functions.