This note presents a spreadsheet tool that allows teachers the opportunity to guide students towards answering on their own questions related to the multiple regression F-test, the t-tests, and multicollinearity. The note demonstrates approaches for using the spreadsheet that might be appropriate for three different levels of statistics classes,…

The present study addresses the efficacy of using service-learning methods to meet the GAISE guidelines (http://www.amstat.org/education/gaise/GAISECollege.htm) in a second business statistics course and further explores potential advantages of assigning a service-learning (SL) project as compared to the traditional statistics project assignment.…

Interactive applets have the ability to enhance statistics teaching by providing multiple representations of new concepts and by facilitating experimentation. I introduce two applets that have been developed as aids in illustrating ideas relevant to hypothesis testing and describe how I have used these in my classes. (Contains 4 figures.)

Students in my applied advanced statistics course for educational administration doctoral students developed a follow-up survey for teacher preparation programs, using the following scale development processes: adopting a framework; developing items; providing evidence of content validity; conducting a pilot test; and analyzing data. The students…

Despite the dearth of literature specifically on teaching statistics using social justice, there is precedent in the more general realm of teaching using social justice, or even in teaching mathematics using social justice. This article offers an overview of content examples, resources, and references that can be used in the specific area of…

In the early 1990s, the National Science Foundation funded many research projects for improving statistical education. Many of these stressed the need for classroom activities that illustrate important issues of designing experiments, generating quality data, fitting models, and performing statistical tests. Our paper describes such an activity on…

The technique of distance sampling is widely used to monitor biological populations. This paper documents an in-class activity to introduce students to the concepts and the mechanics of distance sampling in a simple situation that is relevant to their own experiences. Preparation details are described. Variations and extensions to the activity are…

Emphasis on problem solving in mathematics has gained considerable attention in recent years. While statistics teaching has always been problem driven, the same cannot be said for the teaching of probability where discrete examples involving coins and playing cards are often the norm. This article describes an application of simple probability…

This article gives an example of how student-conducted experiments can enhance a course in the design of experiments. We focus on a project whose aim is to find a good mixture of water, soap and glycerin for making soap bubbles. This project is relatively straightforward to implement and understand. At its most basic level the project introduces…

Three sets of rare baseball events--pitching a no-hit game, hitting for the cycle, and turning a triple play--offer excellent examples of events whose occurrence may be modeled as Poisson processes. That is, the time of occurrence of one of these events doesn't affect when we see the next occurrence of such. We modeled occurrences of these three…

The paper reports some initiatives to freshen up the typical undergraduate business forecasting course. These include (1) students doing research and presentations on contemporary tools and industry practices such as neural networks and collaborative forecasting (2) insertion of Logistic Regression in the curriculum (3) productive use of applets…

Statistics in the Community (STATCOM) is a student-run statistical consulting program that has been serving its local community since 2001. Directed and staffed by graduate students from Purdue University's Department of Statistics, it provides professional consulting services to governmental and nonprofit groups free of charge. Students work in…

Service-learning projects are a useful method for students to learn both the practice and value of statistical methods. Effective service learning, however, depends on several factors and can be implemented according to a variety of models. In this article, different models for incorporating service-learning in statistics courses are presented…

Introductory statistics textbooks rarely discuss the concept of variability for a categorical variable and thus, in this case, do not provide a measure of variability. The impression is thus given that there is no measurement of variability for a categorical variable. A measure of variability depends on the concept of variability. Research has…

Kalamazoo College is a selective, liberal arts college located in Kalamazoo, Michigan, with total enrollment of approximately 1200 students. The primary introductory statistics course at Kalamazoo College is Applied Statistics I (Math 260). Working in small groups of 3 or 4 members each, students were required to formulate a question of interest,…