Beyond The Formula : 2005 Titles & Abstracts by Session

S.1 9:30 AM 10:30 AM ~ Opening Keynote Address
Jessica Utts, U of California, Davis
Teaching Introductory Statistics: From Dull to Dynamic!
Taking an introductory statistics course used to be seen as a necessary evil by most students, and for good reason! Generally, they were not shown the relevance of the material, they were passive rather than active in the classroom, and they were required to make tedious computations on phony data. In recent years there have been major changes in resources available for teachers and students. This session will discuss some of those changes, and how they can be used to make the introductory statistics course relevant and appealing for teachers and students.

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S.2 10:45 AM 12:00 PM ~ Breakout Sessions

S.2.1    Breakout Session:
Gina Reed, Gainesville College
Synthesis through Service Learning in Statistics - Part One
This presentation focuses on how to incorporate a service learning component into introductory statistics. To incorporate the project into the course, several changes were made. The major shift has been in the delivery of the course content. Making the material relevant and interesting to the students by using current data on the web or using student-generated data is a key element in the restructuring of the course. Examples of in-class worksheets and laboratory activities will be discussed and participants will work through one activity. Different instructional technologies will also be discussed. [60-min]

S.2.2    Workshop:
Deborah Nolan, U of California, Berkeley
The Elements of Effective, Fun, Classroom Activities
Classroom demonstrations, exercises, and projects are increasingly popular ways for conveying statistical concepts. Well-designed activities make effective teaching tools, but poorly designed ones waste precious class time and may confirm student’s preconceptions that statistics is boring and confusing. In this talk, we dissect at least a dozen demos, classroom exercises, and projects, discussing their strengths and their flaws and making suggestions for improvements. Through these examples we hope to outline some of the key elements of good classroom activities. [75-min]

S.2.3    Breakout Session:

S.2.4    Breakout Session:
Roxy Peck, California Polytechnic State University
Transforming the Classroom Learning Environment with Student Response Systems
Have you ever given what you thought was a brilliant, concise and clear presentation only to be disappointed later on an exam when it becomes painfully clear that students just didn't get it? Ever pose a question to your class only to be met with an uncomfortable silence after which one of the same few students provides an answer? Ever wonder what the other students are thinking (or even if they are thinking) about the question you asked? Student response systems (sometimes called clickers) provide a way inform classroom instruction while at the same time engaging students in the classroom and helping to keep students motivated and on task.
Using clickers and a receiver, student response systems allow instructors to poll the class and then quickly and easily view the results (much like the "poll the audience" option on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire). Using examples that include confidence intervals, linear regression and hypothesis testing, this session will give participants hands-on experience with a student response system and will demonstrate how this technology can be used to assess conceptual understanding, collect classroom data, and keep students actively engaged. [75-min] [all]

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S.3 1:00 PM 2:00 PM ~ Breakout Sessions

S.3.1    Breakout Session:
Norean Sharpe, Assoc. Babson College
Making the Case: Why use writing and Case Studies?
While there are many learning goals of statistics courses, the most difficult are those that focus on the learning of fundamental concepts, such as variation, confidence and prediction. How can we best measure whether students are able to apply, interpret and communicate these concepts? While many alternative means of assessment have been suggested, requiring the students to write about their analysis and conclusions often reveals hidden inadequacies and misconceptions in learning. This presentation makes the case for using case studies and statistical reports to improve students’ understanding of 1) fundamental concepts; 2) interpretation of statistical results; and 3) limitations of recommendations. [60-min]

S.3.2    Breakout Session:
Jessica Utts, U of California, Davis
Hands On, Minds On: Using In-Class Activities as a Learning Tool
We all know that the best way to learn something is to get your mind engaged, through experience or through trying to explain it to someone else. Yet we rarely use these tools in our classes. In this session, attendees will participate in some hands-on activities that can be done in a 50-minute class, and learn how to use activities as effective teaching tools. [60-min]

S.3.3    Breakout Session:
Cindy van Es, Cornell University
“This is going to be hard and boring.”
Many students come into Introductory Statistics classes with the preconception (false as we all know) that the class will be extremely boring and dreadfully difficult.   It is our job as statistics educators to counteract this impression through careful attention to our classroom atmosphere. Through a mixture of lectures, interactive exercises, guest speakers, and case based teaching we can promote a positive learning environment. Specific examples of each of these methods will be covered in the context of small and large classroom settings. [60-min]

S.3.4    Breakout Session:
Jennifer Bready, Mt. Saint Mary College
How to Create a Unique Statistics Project That Students Will Enjoy - Part I
In my statistics classes I have found a way to create a project that is unique, interesting, and fun for the students, yet allows me to assess their statistical knowledge (without giving a final exam). In Part I of this two part session I will take participants through the process of designing the project. Students are involved in every step, from choosing a topic to writing the questions, creating the survey (including artwork and design), and gathering and compiling a large data set for analysis. Audience participation is expected, as I will take you through the process too! Many examples of past surveys will be shown and handouts will be given. [60-min]

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S.4 2:15 PM 3:15 PM ~ General Session Address

Mark Earley, Bowling Green State University
Looking at Our Classrooms as Teacher-Researchers
As we constantly strive to improve the teaching of introductory statistics, it is important for teachers to take time to reflect on what they are doing and whether it is working. It is also important for us to share our successes and failures with other teachers who might learn from them. One framework for facilitating this reflection and sharing is classroom action research. In this talk, I introduce the “why” of classroom action research followed by the basics of “how” teacher-researchers might conduct classroom action research studies. Throughout the talk I give examples from a variety of studies I have completed in my own introductory statistics classroom.

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S.5 3:30 PM 5:30 PM ~ Sharing Sessions & Open Labs

S.5.1    Sharing Session
Roxy Peck, California Polytechnic State University
Sharing Concerns
This session will provide an opportunity to exchange ideas about the challenges of teaching introductory statistics. Participants will share their thoughts on content, pedagogy and the importance of engaging students in the learning process. Learn from the experiences of others, and contribute by sharing efforts that have proven to be particularly helpful and effective strategies for implementing change. [60-min]

S.5.2    Workshop:
John & Mary Harrison, Virginia Beach City Public Schools
Minitab in the high school classroom
Many teachers complain that Minitab is difficult to use with high school students; that the learning curve for this software is too steep. Our experience shows this is not true. This session would provide copies of the first few Minitab labs we give our students and allow participants to work through at least one or two of them. [75-min]

S.5.3    Workshop:
Mark Earley, Bowling Green State University
Designing a Classroom Action Research Project
This interactive, hands-on workshop will guide participants through planning their own classroom action research project. Teachers at any level, K – 12 and post-secondary, are welcome to attend. I will guide participants through a series of worksheets designed to facilitate brainstorming and planning. Participants will work individually and collaboratively in small groups to develop a project they can take back to their classroom and implement right away. Participants will also walk away from this workshop with additional handouts and resources for future classroom action research projects. To maintain the collaborations started at this workshop, those participants who are interested will be invited to join an e-mail discussion group hosted by me so they can continue to share ideas and support each other through the classroom research process. [90-min, 20-seat maximum]

S.5.4    Workshop:
Tom Short, Indiana Univ. of Pennsylvania
Using Tinkerplots Software to Explore Graphing for Middle School and Beyond!
Tinkerplots is a new graphing software package developed under the leadership of Cliff Konold by the Statistics Education Research Group at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Tinkerplots is intended for students in grades 4 through 8, but offers insights into graphical data analysis to students of all ages. In this workshop we will explore the capabilities of Tinkerplots by constructing graphs and exploring data students might encounter in middle school, high school, and college statistics units and courses. The emphasis will be on hands-on exploration of real data. Tinkerplots is distributed by Key Curriculum Press. (http://www.keypress.com/tinkerplots/). [90-min]

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S.6 7:00 PM 8:00 PM ~ After-Dinner Address

Richard De Veaux, Williams College
Math is Music: Statistics is Literature
Gauss could add up hundreds of numbers in his head by the age of 3 and Mozart was playing the pieces he'd heard in church at home by about the same age. But who ever heard of a literary prodigy? Why? Because literature is about the world and the wisdom one gains with experience, not about abstract rules and symbols. The same is true of Statistics. Rather than highlight the formulas that underlie Statistics, we need to emphasize the learning that Statistics gives us about the world. The most common mistakes in Statistics have nothing to do with calculation but everything to do with interpretation and context. How can we help students to use statistical thinking effectively in the chaotic maze of the real world? We think this is best done by outlining the steps in statistical thinking. We'll outline our strategy for informing and exciting students about Statistics and how we use these steps in an introductory course.

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Friday - August 6, 2004

S.7 8:40 AM 10:15 AM ~ Breakout Sessions

S.7.1    Breakout Session:
Deborah Nolan, U of California, Berkeley
Incorporating Computing with R into the Statistics Curriculum
Computing has dramatically changed the practice of statistics in the past twenty years, but its impact on the way we teach and what we teach in our introductory courses has progressed more slowly. In fact, these changes give us the opportunity to teach statistics in a more exciting and compelling manner, and new computing tools offer valuable aids to help students understand statistical concepts and promote statistical thinking. We provide ideas for how instructors can incorporate computing into the curriculum, putting it on equal footing with the familiar mathematical tools and formulae, and ideas for how to make modern, fun statistical applications entry points into core statistical concepts. To accomplish this we use the R language. R offers many advantages to the instructor for developing educational computing materials. The R language is open source software available for use on Windows, Mac, and Unix operating systems and supported by a worldwide community of statisticians. Its simple command line interface allows students to quickly learn how to employ basic statistical functions to work creatively with data. Students also learn a valuable skill that they can carry with them in more advanced courses because R offers advanced plotting routines, up-to-date statistical methodologies, and a rich programming environment. In addition, with R, instructors can build graphical user interfaces to perform customized analyses focused on specific skills, plug R into spreadsheets to take advantage of their simple visual metaphors for computation, and interface R with databases and other languages such as Perl and C++. In this talk, we provide a brief introduction to the R language, and we cover examples from our teaching of how to use R's command line interface as well as more sophisticated interfaces for these purposes. [90-min] [2-yr & 4-yr]

S.7.2    Breakout Session:
Tom Short, Indiana Univ. of Pennsylvania
Investigating Statistical Assumptions Using Fathom
We have all learned that a sample size of 30 is recommended or required in order for the Central Limit Theorem (CLT) to take effect, and that the product of a sample size and the binomial proportion of successes (or failures) cannot be too small or else the sample proportion will not follow a normal distribution. It is not clear that a minimum of 30 is always really necessary for the CLT, and different introductory statistics textbooks and resources provide differing guidelines about the sample size requirement for sample proportions. In this session we will use Fathom software to explore the consequences of inadequate sample size on statistical inference procedures, and gain insight into how sample size recommendations are determined. [75-min]

S.7.3    Breakout Session:
John Harrison, Virginia Beach City Public Schools
Writing across the curriculum
Most students who take statistics are surprised to discover that communication skills are as important as mathematical ability - maybe more so. Yet we are not English teachers. In this session, we will talk about ways to implement writing within the course: use of a journal, challenge worksheets (based on the Triesman model), and quiz and test questions. Grading suggestions will also be addressed. Samples of prompts and sample student responses will be provided. [60-min]

S.7.4    Breakout Session:
Jennifer Bready, Mt. Saint Mary College
How to Create a Unique Statistics Project That Students Will Enjoy - Part II
So now that the students have their data set to analyze, what do they do with it? In this session I will take the participants through the project requirements that make it fun for students to do and often entertaining for me to read. The project will show how students learn to apply their statistical knowledge. What makes this project most enjoyable for students, however, is the fact that they can be creative with their writing style. I have some excellent examples which I will be showing of students creativity, which include all of the important statistics covered in class.   One year a pair of students even turned in a video! Handouts will be given. [60-min]

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S.8 10:30 AM 11:30 AM ~ General Session Address

Roxy Peck, California Polytechnic State University
How Did Teaching Introductory Statistics Get To Be So Complicated?!?
Twenty-five years ago, teaching introductory statistics was easy. Today, the way in which introductory statistics is taught is changing in response to what is known about student learning and things are much more complicated! This talk describes three lessons learned over the years and explores the implications for the statistics classroom.

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S.9 12:30 PM 1:30 PM ~ Breakout Sessions

S.9.1    Breakout Session:
Cindy van Es, Cornell University
SO WHAT… is it?
As statistics education has progressed from formula derivations and arithmetic shortcuts to conceptually based “producer” and “consumer” courses, we have the opportunity to focus on the critical interpretive part of our discipline. Many students are able to perform calculations using statistical software and calculators, but they may lack insights into when it is appropriate to use a certain technique, how to interpret their results (“Say It”), and how to proceed with appropriate follow-up analyses (“So What”).   Examples will be given of how to incorporate “Say It”, and “So What” into classroom time and assignments. [60-min]

S.9.2    Breakout Session:
Mary Harrison, Virginia Beach City Public Schools
Hands-on Statistics
It has been said that students will retain 90% of new material if they have interactive experiences with it. In this session we will have copies of activities that we have used with our students that illustrate CLT, inference, and confidence intervals.    [60-min]

S.9.3    Breakout Session:
Norean Sharpe, Assoc. Babson College
Assessment, Attitudes and ARTIST
Numerous assessment approaches exist, and the most preferred are often those that attempt to evaluate a student’s understanding of concepts. Thus we, as statistics teachers, have invested effort in developing comprehensive assessment measures (such as projects, written problems, and cases). As a complement to these more holistic assignments, statistics teachers now have an alternative in the new standardized test from ARTIST (Assessment Resource Tools for Improving Statistical Thinking). The potential of this measurement tool for use with introductory students and sample results will be shared. In addition, the benefits of using the Survey of Attitudes Toward Statistics (SATS) and Survey of Writing Attitudes in Statistics (SWAS) to measure student perceptions will be discussed. [60-min]

S.9.4    Breakout Session:
Gina Reed, Gainesville College
Synthesis through Service Learning in Statistics - Part Two
This presentation focuses on how to incorporate a service learning component into introductory statistics. The project incorporates multiple approaches to the problem-solving process. The graphical approach is to give the students a visual, more concrete foundation. Then the numeric approach follows by using the appropriate technology to perform the statistical analysis and finally, the interpretation is presented in a written and oral report. Discussion will include how to contact agencies, types of projects, and feedback from students and agencies. [60-min]

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S.10 1:45 PM 2:45 PM ~ Closing Keynote

Jessica Utts, U of California, Davis
The New "Mom and Apple Pie" of Introductory Statistics
People in the Statistics Education community have been discussing what makes an introductory statistics course successful, and some general themes have started to emerge. For instance, the American Statistical Association sponsored a project that brought together a dozen statistics educators to try to reach consensus on this topic. The result was a report with six recommendations that can be tailored to different courses and audiences. The recommendations, which will be covered in this session, provide both philosophical and practical guidelines, but not topical suggestions. Therefore, in addition those recommendations, this session will provide a short list of topics that every educated statistics student know when they leave the course.

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