T16: Weekly Statistical Activities to Support Students' Learning Experience

Information

Statistics with applied probability is one of the core courses in our undergraduate statistics curriculum with a focus on developing communication of statistics in a variety of disciplines. This course is the first course in which our students develop practical skills in data analysis. In this poster presentation, we will describe the changes we made to the traditional structure of the course to support students’ learning experiences. With the focus on active learning, students were required to prepare for their weekly tutorial sessions (weekly meeting times in smaller class sizes scheduled in addition to the weekly lectures) by working on a statistical activity using R (pre-task tutorial activity). During the tutorials, students worked in small groups with their course teaching assistant’s help who facilitated the weekly sessions and discussed the activity, completed a worksheet, and submitted their statistical outputs produced in R. Based on the course evaluation, students found weekly tutorials stimulating and engaging, providing them with a deeper understanding of statistical concepts and opportunities to demonstrate an understanding of the course material in an atmosphere that was conducive to their learning. They were encouraged to keep up with their studies on a weekly basis in a less stressful way. This teaching and learning strategy can be incorporated into any statistics course at the tertiary level provided that the course has practical sessions (size of about 40 students) to enable students to work in small groups (about 5 students per group).