The implications of introducing report writing into an introductory statistics subject

This paper reports the findings of a study undertaken by the authors to investigate the ability of students in an introductory statistics subject to undertake a report writing task. It was found that students find such a task quite difficult, and generally are able to score much higher marks on questions where they carry out analyses from first principles using a standard procedure. However, it is also suggested that the report writing task may be classified as a metacognitive activity, and of itself provides a means of facilitating the development of conceptual understanding in students.