Journal Article

  • Humor has been promoted as a teaching tool that enhances student engagement and learning. The present report traces the pathway from research to practice by reflecting upon various ways to incorporate humor into the face-to-face teaching of statistics. The use of humor in an introductory university statistics course was evaluated via interviews conducted with a random sample of 38 students. Responses indicated that humor aided teaching by providing amusement, breaking up content, bringing back attention, lightening the mood, increasing motivation, reducing monotony, and providing a mental break. Students that were already motivated and interested in statistics derived less benefit from humor, finding it at times irrelevant and distracting. The selective use of humor is recommended in teaching statistics, particularly for students that hold negative attitudes towards the subject.

  • This paper provides an example of how student-centered instruction can be used in a theoretical statistics class. The author taught a two-semester undergraduate probability and mathematical statistics sequence using primarily teacher-centered instruction in the first semester and primarily student-centered instruction in the second semester. A subset of the students in the teacher-centered course also took the student-centered course. Student feedback suggests that the student-centered approach, while more difficult for both student and instructor, is beneficial when compared to the teacher-centered approach. The specific method of implementation will need to vary with class size and level of student preparation but the author's example presents a starting point for those interested in moving away from a traditional teaching approach in theoretical statistics classes.

  • The present paper examines the difficulties Greek senior high school students identify in learning Statistics and how these difficulties are related to the course's level of difficulty. Also it examines the difficulties students identify that teachers face while teaching Statistics, their suggestions for changes and how these difficulties and suggestions are related to the level of the students' satisfaction by the method of teaching. In the paper a case-study is presented, that was designed and realized at the Department of Statistics and Insurance Sciences of the University of Piraeus. In the study 163 students from Experimental and Private High Schools participated, all attending the 3rd grade of Greek senior high school.

  • Because statistical analysis requires the ability to use mathematics, students typically are required to take one or more prerequisite math courses prior to enrolling in the business statistics course. Despite these math prerequisites, however, many students find it difficult to learn business statistics.<br>In this study, we use an ordered probit model to analyze the impact of alternative prerequisite math course sequences on the grade performance of 1,684 business and economics statistics students at a large Midwestern university. In addition, we show how imposing a minimum grade requirement of C- for the math prerequisite course would influence student success in the business statistics course. Although several studies have examined the impact of different math skills, our study is the first to provide a detailed analysis of the impact of different prerequisite math course sequences on student performance in business statistics. We demonstrate that, other things the same, taking more math credit hours, taking math courses that emphasize calculus, and imposing a minimum grade of C- on the prerequisite math course have significant positive impacts on student grade performance in the business and economics statistics course.

  • The classroom activity described here allows mathematically mature students to explore the role of mean, median and mode in a decision-making environment. While students discover the importance of choosing a measure of central tendency, their understanding of probability distributions, maximization, and prediction is reinforced through active learning. The lesson incorporates the GAISE recommendations by actively engaging students in the process of statistical problem-solving in a realistic situation.

  • In this paper we present an application of statistics using real stock market data. Most, if not all, students have some familiarity with the stock market (or at least they have heard about it) and therefore can understand the problem easily. It is the real data analysis that students find interesting. Here we explore the building of efficient portfolios through optimization using examples of two and three stocks, and how covariance and correlation can help the investor to diversify his or her risk. We discuss why diversification works, but also the problems that arise in portfolio management. Stock market data can be incorporated at any level of statistics, from lower division, to upper division, to graduate courses of Mathematics and Statistics. From our experience, students find this topic very interesting and often they want to enroll in other courses related to this area.

  • Globalization is bringing about a radical "rethink" regarding the delivery of graduate management education. Today, many students entering a residential MBA program do not possess an undergraduate degree in business. As a result, many business schools are increasingly turning to the Internet to provide "customized" instructional content to ensure that students can remain competitive throughout the program. The purpose of this paper is threefold: 1) to estimate student performance in a residential MBA program; 2) to outline a process for identifying specific learning support resources based on student backgrounds and capabilities; and 3) to illustrate the screening process in providing business statistics support content to students requiring additional preparation. The results show that neural net based classification techniques can effectively identify students for the purpose of providing additional learning resources. Business statistics is one area in which this screening process has been used to deliver specialized content to students with a variety of backgrounds enrolled in a MBA residential program.

  • This paper presents an overview of modalities that can be used to make learning statistics fun. Representative examples or points of departure in the literature are provided for no less than 20 modalities. Empirical evidence of effectiveness specific to statistics education is starting to emerge for some of these modalities - namely, humor, song, and cartoons. To reinforce their effectiveness as an intentional teaching tool, the authors offer practical implementation tips.

  • 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, so teachers can select the context that is most appropriate for their particular needs. The spreadsheet tool is linked to this article, and materials are provided in the appendices for teachers to use as handouts, homework questions, and answer keys.

  • 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. Second semester business students were given the choice of participating in a SL project or doing a traditional project assignment.<br><br>When the projects were completed, students reflected on their experiences via survey. Both groups responded equally (agree or strongly agree) to the Likert scale questions: 96.15% reinforced learning objectives, 98.08% applied to real world, 84.62% positive experience. Responses to the open ended questions revealed that more students in the SL group (p = 0.019) wrote about the benefits of dealing with real world data, more SL students felt their work benefited others (65% felt their statistical expertise was valuable) and more (p=0.005) SL students felt that the experience will help them in future classes. These results suggest that while both groups were able to effectively support the GAISE guidelines, participation in the SL option offered an enhanced learning experience that included elements of social responsibility and personal growth. The experience was perceived more enjoyable and relevant to the real world adding elements of student empowerment while assisting a local agency in need of statistical expertise suggesting one can reap positive learning benefits by introducing service-learning pedagogy into a non-majors statistics course.

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