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  • 1.  IMPACT in Action - Staying up-to-date in an Introductory Statistics Course

    Posted 05-01-2022 15:20:00

    How do you keep your introductory statistics class up-to-date and relevant to student needs each year?



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    Rebecca Wong
    Instructor
    West Valley College
    Saratoga CA
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  • 2.  RE: IMPACT in Action - Staying up-to-date in an Introductory Statistics Course

    Posted 05-02-2022 19:16:00
    I think it's important to keep an eye on what is going on globally, so that I can incorporate those events into my examples and assessments when possible. This increases relevance for students, which can increase their interest in learning stats (for some). I think it is also necessary to keep up with trends in statistical analysis so students are learning information that is actually in use today. This is a bit harder when the course content is not 100% under my control. For example, we're still using the TI calculator for "technology," and that clearly needs to change.

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    Mark Earley
    he/him/his
    Assistant Professor
    Columbus State CC
    Columbus OH
    mearley3@cscc.edu
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  • 3.  RE: IMPACT in Action - Staying up-to-date in an Introductory Statistics Course

    Posted 05-02-2022 20:09:00
    The Joint ASA/AMATYC Committee recently sponsored a great webinar by Roxy Peck, The Case for Better Technology in Introductory Statistics.  Here's a link to the recording on AMATYC's YouTube Channel:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nO3gHxZrHyQ

    I agree that the we need to give our students access to more powerful technology than the TI calculator, technology that enables students to analyze real data sets and gives them experience with modern statistical tools.  This webinar is a great starting point for investigating other technologies to use in the intro stats course.

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    Rebecca Wong
    Instructor
    West Valley College
    Saratoga CA
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  • 4.  RE: IMPACT in Action - Staying up-to-date in an Introductory Statistics Course

    Posted 05-03-2022 11:00:00
    I agree that using statistical spreadsheets and applets is extremely important for keeping the course modern and relevant for our students.  Primarily, many of these tools allow students to scrape websites for current data sets, or import large data sets that come in *.csv form.  Students can then access and analyze data that is interesting to them. 

    In addition, many of these data sets have qualitative variables that cannot be analyzed using hand-held calculators.  I believe students should be required to analyze proportions when the variable is "yes/no" or "agree/disagree" rather than 450 of 1010 individuals surveyed agree with the following statement.  

    Lastly, I believe it is important for students to recognize that new variables may be created from existing variables within a data set (and actually create the variables).  For example, suppose data comes in the form "month/day/year".  Most statistical software would allow the creation of a variable that yields day of the week.  This allows for analysis of a response variable by day, which is a nice introduction to multivariable thinking.

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    Michael Sullivan
    Sullivan Texts; Joliet Junior College
    Joliet IL
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  • 5.  RE: IMPACT in Action - Staying up-to-date in an Introductory Statistics Course

    Posted 05-04-2022 16:53:00
    Edited by Rebecca Wong 05-04-2022 16:53:08
    A great opportunity to stay up-to-date in Intro Stats is coming up:  ECOTS!  ECOTS is the Electronic Conference on Teaching Statistics - an online conference devoted solely to the teaching of statistics.  There will be so many great keynote speakers and sessions to choose from and, best of all, you can access it from the comfort of your own surroundings for only $25!  The theme of this year's conference is "Preparing the Modern Student."  Pre-conference workshops start on May 19th and the conference starts on May 23rd.  Here's a link to learn more about ECOTS and to register.



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    Rebecca Wong
    Instructor
    West Valley College
    Saratoga CA
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  • 6.  RE: IMPACT in Action - Staying up-to-date in an Introductory Statistics Course

    Posted 05-09-2022 14:35:00
    Yes! I was coming here to plug eCOTS after seeing the question for the week! The posters are always a great place to find new data sources and ideas for analysis. You can even look back at previous eCOTS and still view those posters for inspiration. 

    I also like using sites like SkewTheScript and Slow Reveal Graphs to find new and interesting real-world data to cultivate curiosity and connection for my students.


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    Kelly Spoon
    Associate Professor
    San Diego Mesa College
    San Diego CA
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