By Maria Cruciani, Justin Post, Jennifer Green, Sunghwan Byun
Information
This inquiry-based activity centers group work as students explore the normal distribution. It is the first activity in a series of three that offers students rich experiences exploring questions with authentic data. Students will explore distributions of rent, measured as a percentage of a household’s monthly income, across the U.S. through scaffolded questions and an R Shiny Applet. The activity and applet are split into two parts. In part one, students work in groups to explore and compare different states’ distributions of rent. Students communicate and justify their statistical findings. In part two, students choose two states whose distributions are displayed beside one another. Students critically compare the variability of each distribution, consider assumptions made, and consider how their findings could impact society. This activity is used as a supplemental learning opportunity for students to engage with in an introductory statistics course. It is currently implemented in recitation sessions at two universities. Each recitation section has thirty students. Creating and implementing this activity will be discussed as well as the importance of situating statistical tasks in real-world contexts with authentic data. A link to explore the applet will be provided.