An Activity-Based Statistics Course

Activity-based learning of statistics: Using practical applications to improve students' learning

“…Other scholars support this viewpoint (Brooks and Brooks 1993;Garfield 1995;Gnanadesikan et al 1997;Keeler and Steinhorst 1995;MacGregor 1990;Steinhorst and Keeler 1995). Keeler and Steinhorst (1995), for example, believe that relevant examples should be used in teaching a statistics course, but most scholars find it difficult to teach in this way (also see Steinhorst and Keeler 1995).…”

“…To demonstrate how activity-based teaching can be used, Gnanadesikan et al (1997) suggest multiple activities intended to illustrate basic statistical concepts. For example, they suggest that an effective opening activity for a statistics course is to collect data on each student, using a questionnaire designed by the students.…”

Applying Cognitive Theory to Statistics Instruction

“…These methods tend to lead to improvements in students' interest in statistics, their learning outcomes, or both (e.g., Borresen 1990;Lan, Bradley, and Parr 1993;Stedman 1993;Cohen et al 1996;Garfield 1996;Giraud 1997;Gnanadesikan, Scheaffer, Watkins, and Witmer 1997;Grabowski and Harkness 1996;Keeler and Steinhorst 1995;Magel 1998;Smith 1998). To take a few examples, Lan et al (1993) found that students who were encouraged to reflect on their learning (by recording time spent working on different concepts and estimating their own efficacy at solving problems using those concepts) scored higher on in-class examinations than did two different groups of "control" students.…”

“…To take a few examples, Lan et al (1993) found that students who were encouraged to reflect on their learning (by recording time spent working on different concepts and estimating their own efficacy at solving problems using those concepts) scored higher on in-class examinations than did two different groups of "control" students. Other approaches to getting students actively engaged in learning statistics have also been used (e.g., Gnanadesikan et al 1997;Smith 1998). For example, Smith (1998) found that incorporating a sequence of projects in a semesterlong introductory course led to positive responses from stu-dents and improved exam scores relative to the previous semester's students.…”

Combating Anti-Statistical Thinking Using Simulation-Based Methods Throughout the Undergraduate Curriculum

“…Furthermore, many traditional introductory statistics activities (Gelman & Glickman, 2000;Gnanadesikan, Scheaffer, Watkins, & Witmer, 1997) can still be a natural fit in courses using simulationbased methods.…”