ERIC Number: EJ1162195
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2017
Pages: 18
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1051-1970
EISSN: N/A
Computational Inquiry in Introductory Statistics
Toews, Carl
PRIMUS, v27 n7 p707-724 2017
Inquiry-based pedagogies have a strong presence in proof-based undergraduate mathematics courses, but can be difficult to implement in courses that are large, procedural, or highly computational. An introductory course in statistics would thus seem an unlikely candidate for an inquiry-based approach, as these courses typically steer well clear of proof, have a list of required topics, and depend critically on computational software. On the other hand, the American Statistical Association (ASA) has long advocated the sort of active and exploratory class design that in many respects parallels traditional inquiry-based learning (IBL). This paper reports on the author's recent attempt to implement an inquiry-based course in introductory statistics that fuses established IBL techniques with the specific pedagogical recommendations of the ASA. A signature feature of this course is that many of the inquiry-based activities are explicitly tied to computer work in the open source language R.
Descriptors: Computation, Inquiry, Introductory Courses, Statistics, Active Learning, Undergraduate Students, Mathematics Instruction, Laboratory Training, Courseware, Teaching Methods, Technology Uses in Education
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Washington
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A