Becoming a Teacher of Statistics

Portfolio

by

Susan Sexton

 


 

Probability and Statistics for Secondary Teachers

STAT 6070

University of Georgia

Fall 2007

Instructor: Christine Franklin

 


 

Recommendation 1: Use real data.

 

 

Franklin, C. & Mulekar, M. (2004). Effect of prior information on string length estimates. Teaching Statistics, 26(3), 66–71.

 

Abstract:

This article describes an activity through which students collect data and explore ways to display them through graphs and charts. It also motivates various summary measures for location, spread and shape. Finally, it gives an introduction to concepts of validity, reliability and unbiasedness.

 

 


            The authors describe an activity aimed at helping students collect and describe characteristics of meaningful data. Through the analysis of the data, the students are provided with opportunities to use technology that will help them Òvisualize [the] data through various graphs and charts, and to explore and compare different shapes of distributionsÓ (p. 66). Using real data in learning statistics is one of the six recommendations of the Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education (GAISE).

            In the activity, students are provided with visuals of two strings of different lengths. The students are shown the two strings one at a time and asked to estimate the length of each string. The class is not given any information about the length of the first string but told that the length of the second string is at least 35 inches. The estimations were gathered, the instructors facilitated discussions about the data, and the students used computer software to help create various visuals of the data. The authors of the GAISE report call this type of data as Òclassroom-generated dataÓ (GAISE, 2005, p. 9) and state: ÒUsing real data sets of interest to students is also a good way to engage them in thinking about the data and relevant statistical conceptsÓ (GAISE, 2005, p. 9).

            The discussions the authors facilitated around the data included predicting the shape, spread, and centers of the two string estimation distributions. The students then used technology to aid their understanding of their collective predictions and/or what the visuals actually displayed. The instructors used key moments to introduce statistical ideas, concepts, and terminology. These types of discussions and visualizations centered about an activity are avenues for the students to enhance their statistical thinking and heighten their statistical literacy as well as a means for the instructors to foster student learning by actively engaging in discourse through analysis of the data. Emphasizing statistical literacy, developing statistical thinking through utilizing technology and fostering active learning are all teaching methods recommended within the GAISE report.

            The instructors used the opportunity to increase the studentsÕ statistical knowledge and understanding by having them consider the concepts of validity, reliability, and unbiasedness. Conceptual understanding of all three concepts is enhanced through the use of a larger data set. Thus the instructors provided the students with the numerical and visual summaries of similar data collected from three other classes to compare with their own class data. This aligns with the suggestion for teachers in the GAISE recommendation to: ÒGet students to practice entering raw data using a small data set or a subset of data, rather than spending time entering a large data set. Make larger data sets available electronicallyÓ (GAISE, 2005, p. 9).

            Overall this activity is a great illustration of how statistical concepts can be introduced without an emphasis of procedural knowledge (another GAISE recommendation). Students have the opportunity to Òuse real data in teaching statistics, for reasons of authenticity, for considering issues related to how and why the data were produced or collected, and to relate the analysis to the problem contextÓ (GAISE, 2005, p. 9). Furthermore the activity incorporates 5 out of the 6 GAISE recommendations. The instructors were mere facilitators of the activity, probing and asking questions when necessary and introducing key statistical concepts, ideas, and terminology when appropriate.

            The final GAISE recommendation not explicitly addressed in the activity is that of assessment. However, the instructorsÕ comments throughout the article on various misconceptions and how they addressed them or planned to address them (perhaps through a different or new activity) is a form of in-the-moment assessment that results in real-time decision making on when to pursue such issues.

References

GAISE College Report. (2005). Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistical Education College Report. Alexandria, VA: American Statistical Association, http://www.amstat.org/education/gaise.

 

 

 

 

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