Chance is often associated with probability. If an event is certain to happen, its probability is 1. If the event cannot happen, its probability is 0. Therefore, the closer the probability is to one, the more likely the event is to happen. Students should be aware of how beliefs and conceptions can affect decisions about uncertainty.
Simulation is an effective problem-solving tool that can help change students' conceptions.
Encourage students to gather data physically or with concrete simulation objects prior to computer simulations. Include examples of misuses and abuses of statistics and encourage students to refute them with a correct analysis. The chance of two independent events happening simultaneously is less than or equal to the chance of either one happening. For example, many people think that the percent of people being over 50 and wearing bifocals is greater than the percentage that wear bifocals. Some students do not see the results of a single trial of an experiment as one of many such trials.