EJMT Abstract

This paper presents a simulation method using a programming language called R to help students understand the concepts of sampling distributions and the central limit theorem. We simulate an approximation of a sampling distribution by taking 1000 random samples from different populations, calculating the mean of each sample, and creating histograms to display the distributions of the sample mean. Normal probability plots of the sample mean are also created as a second tool for understanding the distribution of the sample mean. The sampling distribution of the sample proportion is also studied for varying sample sizes. Students will observe the effects of sample size on the shape and spread of the approximate sampling distribution by varying the sample size.