The Probability Inquiry Environment (PIE)

PIE is a computer-mediated inquiry environment proven to help middle school students learn elementary probability. PIE was implemented as a three week curriculum, which included computer-simulation activities, hands-on activities and whole class discussions. Each computer activity was designed to focus on a particular aspect of probability and to promote specific interactions in the classroom culture.

Students actively investigate probability by trying to figure out if particular games of chance are fair to all participants. The students' collaborative activity is structured around articulating their intuitions, systematically testing their ideas by gathering and analyzing empirical data, and communicating their revised understanding of the domain to their classmates. The computer-mediated activities are then followed by hands-on activities in which students flip coins, roll dice, etc. as they investigate aspects of probability without using the computer simulations. Throughout the curriculum the students also participate in whole-class discussions, in which each pair relates their findings from the activities.