The student forgot to sort the values first.
The sorted data set is {162, 169, 174, 177, 178, 187, 192, 194, 196}
Cross off the first four items, and cross off the last four items. You'll find that 178 is the only thing left, so it's right in the middle. This is the median.
Another way to find the median is to notice that there are n = 9 items in the list, so n/2 = 9/2 = 4.5 which rounds to 5 represents the slot number where the median is located. The value 178 is in slot 5. This trick only works if n is odd.
The range is the difference between the min and max, so,
range = max - min = 196-162 = 34
The student got the range part correct.
---------------------
Summary:
Median = 178
Range = 34