Although the use of a statistical computer package has become an integral part of modern statistics courses, the primary goal of traditional software has been to do statistics rather than to learn statistics. Fathom: Dynamic Statistics Software is one of several newly developed packages that focus a greater emphasis on providing an atmosphere in which students can investigate statistical concepts. To facilitate learning, a key premise is that all aspects of an analysis are linked so that students can see how changes in one area are reflected in another. Fathom's developers have made a special effort to produce an intuitive interface that allows students to "drag & drop" to construct analyses from basic building blocks. It also provides a convenient environment for instructors to develop effective demonstrations. We give examples of these sorts of dynamic illustrations and discuss how Fathom can be used to encourage student explorations.
The CAUSE Research Group is supported in part by a member initiative grant from the American Statistical Association’s Section on Statistics and Data Science Education