By V.N. Vimal Rao
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In this poster I present a pedagogical design inspired by the structure of the BhagavadGita and evidence of its efficacy. The BhagavadGita describes an exchange between Krishna (the teacher) and Arjuna (the student). Krishna only begins his instruction after Arjuna realizes he has a problem and seeks Krishna’s help. Using this BhagavadGita as a pedagogical framework, on Day 1 of an introductory statistics class for non-majors at a public four-year university with about 600 students per class, I set the stage for students' learning by presenting to them problems (without solutions) that they could relate to, but to which they would be confused about in their decision making. Creating confusion in the minds of students sets the stage for student learning by facilitating their understanding that they need help from statistics to solve important problems, much like Arjuna sought Krishna’s help. Data from students’ responses to open-ended survey questions suggests that the intervention challenged students’ expectations for the course, which had a knock-on effect on their motivation and engagement. This novel approach may be effective at addressing students’ engagement and motivation towards required statistics classes, highlighting the utility of searching for pedagogical inspiration from unexpected sources.