This article describes the adaptation and use of the Monopoly® board game as a simple simulator to help introduce the principles of probability and risk. It focusses on teaching experiences in an undergraduate business program and offers a new approach to teaching probability and risk with dice to produce a collaborative simulated gaming…

Using the famous Birthday problem, we present here a practical activity that allows students to perceive the basic reasoning behind simulation and explore its potential. Through a playful approach with probabilities, students are led along a path that illustrates difficulties with intuition and introduces them to theoretical results for sample…

With so many role-playing simulations already in the political science education literature, the recent repeated calls for new games is both timely and appropriate. This article answers and extends those calls by advocating the creation of probabilistic games using Microsoft Excel. I introduce the example of the Stag Hunt Game--a short, effective,…

Trading cards for various sports and a range of other subjects such as architecture, animals, hobbies, and war have been in existence since the late nineteenth century and still enjoy great popularity. Two of the most prominent examples are baseball cards in the U.S. and football cards in Europe. Three strategies for collecting European football…

Tossing a fair coin 1000 times can have an unexpected result. In the activities presented here, players keep track of the accumulated total for heads and tails after each toss, noting which player is in the lead or whether the players are tied. The winner is the player who was in the lead for the higher number of turns over the course of the game.…

This article presents four inquiry-based learning activities developed for a liberal arts math course. The activities cover four topics: the Pythagorean theorem, interest theory, optimization, and the Monty Hall problem. Each activity consists of a dialogue, with a theme and characters related to the topic, and a manipulative, that allow students…

In the criminal justice system, defendants accused of a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty. Statistical inference in any context is built on an analogous principle: The null hypothesis--often a hypothesis of "no difference" or "no effect"--is presumed true unless there is sufficient evidence against it. In this…

Probability is an essential tool for understanding heredity and modern genetics, yet many students have difficulty with this topic due to the abstract and quantitative nature of the subject. To facilitate student learning of probability in genetics, we have developed a set of hands-on, cooperative activities that allow students to determine…

An exercise simulating the tossing of N dice is described. Calculation of expected gain and extension to a two-person game are each discussed. (MNS)

Describes a simulation-oriented computer microworld named CHANCE used to overcome the limitations of physical materials for experiments in teaching and learning introductory probability. Results of a teaching experiment conducted with four middle school and high school students are discussed. (15 references) (LZ)

The game of roulette is analyzed. (SD)

Various classroom uses of simulation of random phenomena with a table of random digits are described. Examples are given to illustrate the mathematics of simulation. (MP)

Mathematical modelling activities related to everyday situations (e.g., traffic lights) can be used to develop probability concepts. (SD)

Activities for calculating experimental and theoretical probabilities are presented. Worksheets designed for duplication for classroom use are provided. Suggestions are given for additional problems that could be generated from the original simulation, and answers to questions on the worksheets are included. The activities simulate parachute…

The probability of winning the contest was analyzed, with the mathematical solution and a computer simulation given. A flowchart and computer program are both included. (MNS)