Journal Article

  • A number of programs written for the TI-83 Plus calculator are demonstrated in this article to illustrate this graphing calculator's surprisingly advanced statistical capabilities. Examples include residual plots for analysis of variance, pairwise comparison in one-factor experimental design, statistical inference for simple linear regression and confidence intervals for contrasts used in experimental design. These and a number of other programs are available for download. Advances in graphing calculator statistical programs, such as those described in this article, allow instructors and students in introductory applied graduate level statistics courses to perform sophisticated statistical data diagnostic and inference procedures during class time in an ordinary class room.

  • The First International Conference on the Teaching of Mathematics was held in Samos, Greece, in July 1998. Presentations by the attendees reflected a recent debate on reforms of the mathematics curriculum and related pedagogy. Chief among these was a greater emphasis on connecting the mathematics curriculum with applications, to make courses in mathematics more "relevant" to students. This manuscript notes that mathematicians tend to teach students to approach data analysis in a constructive manner, proceeding from an understanding of the basic science, while statisticians concentrate on reductive approaches, whereby models are generated upon consideration of the data themselves. It is suggested that departments of mathematics and statistics will need to adopt a new spirit of cooperation, and partner with colleagues in application areas, if curricular enhancements in either domain are to have a reasonable chance at success.

  • An alternative perspective is presented for teaching students the logic and details underlying McNemar's test of the equality of correlated proportions. The new perspective enables straightforward extension to other correlated proportions situations.

  • The 93CARS dataset contains information on 93 new cars for the 1993 model year. Measures given include price, mpg ratings, engine size, body size, and indicators of features. The 26 variables in the dataset offer sufficient variety to illustrate a broad range of statistical techniques typically found in introductory courses.

  • Four datasets (nfl93.dat, nfl94.dat, nfl95.dat, nfl96.dat) contain National Football League game results for recent seasons. In addition to game scores, the data give oddsmakers' pointspreads and over/under values for each game.

  • We describe the purpose of the "Datasets and Stories" section of this journal. Guidelines for submitting datasets and articles to this section are discussed. Instructions are provided for retrieving data from the JSE data archives.

  • I trace the development of a new course in modern data analysis involving a wide spectrum of statistical techniques. Because the course is based entirely on case studies, real-data settings, and student projects and is computer-intensive, a series of challenges facing many instructors are addressed. In a single semester, students explore data using tools from EDA, multiple regression, analysis of variance, time series analysis, and categorical data analysis. The focus is on understanding and forecasting in a variety of data settings, learning how to summarize relationships and measure how well these relationships fit data, and how to make meaningful statistical inferences when the usual assumptions do not hold. The course emphasizes what the statistical process is all about: how to conduct studies, what the results mean, and what can be inferred about the whole from pieces of evidence.

  • An approach used to assess project team work in a condensed (half-term) elective course is discussed. The instructor's evaluation method signals appropriate course goals to students. The scheme described encourages student groups to prepare presentations that will be attractive to people who will evaluate their work in the real world. Colleague comments determine one-half of each student's course grade. Students are randomly selected to lead the presentations, ensuring that all students are thoroughly involved in the process (including assessment). A report on the projects (and comments) completed by Masters of Business Administration (MBA) students at a midwestern school of management is provided, along with the inventory used to assess each team's work.

  • This article explains why and how a course in general linear models was restructured. This restructuring resulted from a need to more fully understand traditional teaching evaluations, coupled with a desire to introduce more meaningful data into the course. This led to the incorporation of a longitudinal dataset of teaching evaluations into the lecture material and assignments. The result was a deeper appreciation of how students perceive my teaching, specifically, and a greater understanding of how statistics courses, in general, can be taught more effectively.

  • On her death in 1910, Florence Nightingale left a vast collection of reports, letters, notes and other written material. There are numerous publications that make use of this material, often highlighting Florence's attitude to a particular issue. In this paper we gather a set of quotations and construct a dialogue with Florence Nightingale on the subject of statistics. Our dialogue draws attention to strong points of connection between Florence Nightingale's use of statistics and modern evidence-based approaches to medicine and public health. We offer our dialogue as a memorable way to draw the attention of students to the key role of data-based evidence in medicine and in the conduct of public affairs.

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