Teachers can use variety of strategies to instruct students in stat literacy. One such stratedy is using articles that contatin statistics which display commonly held beliefs. These encourage students to seek weaknesses and di ** strengths of factual information. Using essay questions that appear to have a answer are another means to engage students in statistical learning.<br>University students are best taught statistical literacy through a general education course. The first step is to explore an issue that has been taken for granted and is incontrovertible in the students' minds, such as the safety and effectiveness of immunizations. Students begin by evaluating an article with a negative slant on immunizations and by examining their own preconceived ideas. Students then receive a comment sheet in which the teacher responds generally to their arguments, provides factual support for their beliefs, and mentions some of the strengths of the article. Students are then asked to consider how a study can be designed to examine a particular question and to discuss why such a definitive study cannot actually be performed. An example of how the student discussion can be translated to a consideration of immunizations for Hepatitis B is presented.
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