Recommendation 6
Integrate Assessments that are Aligned with Course Goals to Improve as well as Evaluate Student Thinking
Statistics 6070
Ryan Shannon
Recommendation 6: Using Project in an Elementary Statistics Course for Non-Science Majors
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This article is a prime example of and integrated assignment that evaluates students. Allowing the student to work on a project as the year goes along is a great idea to allow students to understand the overlaying connection of statistics. Each section of the project being a new section of the course, and too having the student prepare sections at a time that are passed in, without grade, to better themselves and their learning is a great example to evaluate student learning during the year. Check points thought-out the semester will ensure that students are getting work done at a rate to ease work at the end of the semester.
Without grading will take anxiety away as noted in paragraph 5. Allowing the students to create their own projects will instill interest and learning. A project that slowly progresses over the semester will bring a sense of accomplishment to students that will increase their confidence in a subject. Sample projects as listed in paragraph 9 are a great way to place real life data into the classroom to show students how statistics works. Also will make a group feel better to know the work is done for them.
This is an idea that requires a lot of work to be done by the professor, but for statistics I think is mandatory for students to fully understand the topics. Statistics is a genre of mathematics that is very hands-on, so for further understanding the student must actually do statistics. I will take this idea and bring this into a classroom setting. The project maybe a bit much for high school students but the sampling idea and smaller projects to complete with student presentations is a great way for cooperative learning. Here the students will see the interest of each other and grow.
Making the students complete the survey was a great way to get feedback about the new assessment. There will always be a few that are very unpleasant, but with an over whelming approval and the best way to see how students reacted. I would force groups to be made. The idea of picking their own would be better for convenience but I feel that a random group would be better for group exploration and learning. Overall I think this “slow roasting” project is a great idea, I will most definitively take portions with me.