By Elizabeth Brondos Fry (University of Minnesota)
Abstract
Recommended learning goals for introductory statistics courses include understanding the role of randomness in study design and the resulting conclusions that can be made. However, students can have difficulty learning these topics, and may have lingering confusion between the distinct purposes of random sampling and random assignment. A two-and-a-half week unit on study design was created and implemented in an undergraduate introductory statistics course. A brief description of the unit will be presented, along with a selection of results from assessments. Results presented will focus on students' ability to distinguish between the role of random sampling in allowing for generalizations to a population, and the role of random assignment in enabling causal claims.