Martha Aliaga, Director of Programs at the American Statistical Association, spearheads the organization's efforts in statistics education. She is a Fellow of the ASA cited for outstanding contributions to statistical education through the development and use of innovative teaching methods. She serves on several committees on statistical education including the Advisory Committee on Teacher Enhancement, ASA/MAA Joint Committee on Undergraduate Statistics and the Advisory Board of CAUSE (Consortium for the Advancement of Undergraduate Statistics Education). She has also authored the successful textbook Interactive Statistics emphasizing hands-on exploration. Topics: Share your views and experiences with teaching introductory statistics in a hands-on, interactive environment. (Sponsor: Prentice Hall)
ARTIST Team includes Beth Chance, Cal Poly; and Bob delMas and Joan Garfield, University of Minnesota. Topics: We'll talk about assessment issues in teaching statistics. Participants may bring questions or concerns about assessments or ideas to share that have of innovative items or assessment tasks. The group will also talk about how they have used assessment to provide insights about changes needed in teaching their courses. (Sponsor: ARTIST)
George Cobb, Richard Scheaffer, and Ann Watkins are three of the USCOTS Plenary Speakers. Topics: Talk about advances in statistics education, the undergraduate curriculum, or about their texts Statistics in Action, Activity-Based Statistics, and Design and Analysis of Experiments from Key College Publishing/Key Curriculum Press. Please refer to your program for their biographies. (Sponsor: Key) (2 tables)
Mark Earley, Bowling Green State University, is a member of CAUSE Research Advisory Group. Topic: My Best/Worst Day Teaching. Let's talk about either your best day teaching statistics or your worst day teaching (or both!). We will look for common themes and situations that might help us understand these days better. And of course, just the storytelling will be fun!
Bill Finzer and Clifford Konold are educational researchers and software developers. Bill is the developer of Fathom Dynamic Data Software and Senior Scientist at KCP Technologies; Clifford is the developer of Tinkerplots Dynamic Data Exploration software and is Associate Research Professor in the Scientific Reasoning Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst where he has directed numerous projects focused on understanding and developing statistical reasoning. Topics: Talk about the role of software tools in developing statistical reasoning, or about their software products, Fathom Dynamic Data(TM) Software and Tinkerplots Dynamic Data Exploration(TM) software. (Sponsor: Key)
Christine Franklin is Chair-elect of the ASA section on Statistical Education, Vice-chair of the ASA Advisory Committee for Teacher Enhancement, Chair of the writing team for the ASA Curriculum Guidelines for Pre K-12 Statistics Education and coauthor, with Alan Agresti, of the forthcoming textbook: Statistics: The Art and Science of Learning from Data. Friday Lunch Topics: Share your views on teacher preparation and hear how the University of Georgia has modeled their teacher preparation course for maximum results. (Sponsor: Prentice Hall) Saturday Lunch Topics: Participants at this table will share their experiences on incorporating activities and simulations into both small and large classes -discussing and identifying both the advantages and disadvantages. (Sponsor: Prentice Hall)
Joan Garfield, University of Minnesota, is the CAUSE Associate Director for Research. Topic: Alternatives to Lecturing. We'll discuss ways to get students to read the textbook so you don't have to tell them what is in it; ways to get students involved in discussions that help develop their statistical reasoning, ways to effectively use activities in class, and using activities and discussions to develop student learning of statistics.
Rob Gould, UCLA, is a member of the CAUSE Editorial Board. Topic: Teaching with Technology. You'll discuss ways in which technology can be incorporated into the statistics classroom, as well as some of the potential problems to be aware of and avoid when doing so. You'll also exchange ideas and experiences regarding different forms of technology that you have used, or are thinking about using in the statistics classroom.
William Harkness, Penn State University is a Fellow of the American Statistical Association and member of the CAUSE Editorial Board. Topic: Using Students' Surveys to Generate Examples. Let's talk about how we can get students engaged in statistics while having fun, give students ownership of data and practice in constructing surveys that are relevant and interesting to them, and create a bond between you and them--it can be done!
Sterling Hilton, Brigham Young University, is a member of the CAUSE Editorial Board. Topic: Teaching statistics in other disciplines. You'll discuss some of the challenges as well as the rewards involved in teaching statistics in and for other disciplines. You'll also exchange experiences and ideas for how to best orient the course to get the most out of it for you and your students.
John Holcomb, Cleveland State University is a member of the CAUSE Research Advisory Board and a member of the CAUSE Editorial Board. Topic: The 2nd Course in Statistics. Questions for discussion about the second course include: Why are nonparametric statistics divorced from their parametric counterparts?; How do we teach students which methodologies to use?; Should we really start calling blocked ANOVA repeated measures ANOVA?; and Is there a good way to teach students about the type I error problem when multiple testing?
Robert Johnson is Professor Emeritus Monroe Community College, Rochester, NY and Chair for Beyond The Formula Statistics Conference, an Annual Conference About Teaching Introductory Statistics. He is co-author of Elementary Statistics, Duxbury Press and a member of CAUSE Advisory Board. Topic: Finding Good Examples. Possible questions/topics to discuss: What makes an example good?; Where can examples be found?; How does one go about finding good examples?; How does one find data to go with the example?; and Sharing methods for finding new examples.
Cheryl LeSaint and Marian Frazier are graduate students at The Ohio State University Department of Statistics, and are both outstanding graduate teaching assistants. Topic:This table is specifically designed for graduate students, to discuss experiences, ideas and expectations regarding teaching statistics, some of the unique challenges of being a student and a teacher at the same time, and how to get the most out of your teaching opportunities.
Robin Lock, St. Lawrence University, is a member of the CAUSE Editorial Board and one of the USCOTS Plenary Speakers. Topic: Developing statistics majors and/or minors in your program. ASA has established guidelines for development of curricula for undergraduate statistics majors, including information on the necessary skills, statistical topics, mathematical and computational topics, non-mathematical topics, and electives; as well as guidelines for minors and/or concentrations in statistics. We'll discuss these guidelines and how you can implement them in your program.
Marsha Lovett, Psychology Department and Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA is a member of the CAUSE Research Advisory Group. Topic: Identifying and addressing students' challenges and difficulties in learning statistics. Here are some of the questions we'll discuss: In your experience, what topics seem most difficult for students to learn? Do you know about research on common challenges in statistics learning? How do you (or might you) assess students' challenges in learning statistics? What contributes to students' difficulties in learning statistics in your case? Are they problems that would transcend discipline (i.e., be true in other areas) or are they specific to statistics? Do they involve the mathematical aspects or the applied aspects? What ideas do you have or strategies have you tried to overcome these difficulties?
George McCabe and Ellen Gundlach are from Purdue University. George is coauthor of Introduction to the Practice of Statistics, currently in its 5th edition, and The Practice of Business Statistics. Ellen teaches three sections of an elementary statistics course and is the course coordinator for nine sections. Topics: A recent task force has identified expected outcomes for an undergraduate major. These include the ability analyze data, to think logically and creatively, to apply knowledge to practical situations, to prepare and deliver an oral presentation, to make written arguments appropriate to a specific discipline, to work as part of a team, to participate in multidisciplinary activities, and to make decisions based on appropriate ethical considerations. We will lead a discussion concerning how an elementary statistics course can help to achieve these goals. (Sponsor: WH Freeman)
Jackie Miller (Statistics Education Specialist at The Ohio State University; CAUSE Research Advisory Board Member; CAUSE Editorial Board Member; USCOTS Program Co-Chair) who has participated in the AP Statistics readings since 2000. Topic: AP Statistics--Why Should I Be a Reader??? What would make hundreds of high school and college faculty flock to Lincoln, Nebraska? Who would want to sign up to grade student papers when they might dread grading their own students' papers? What makes these people return year after year? Why do they try to recruit their friends? Is it really like summer camp for statistics teachers? By the end of lunch, you'll be convinced that you want to be a part of this amazing experience. Bonus: No brain-washing required!
William Navidi is Professor of Mathematical and Computer Sciences at the Colorado School of Mines, and author of the new textbook, Statistics for Engineers and Scientists, published by McGraw-Hill. Topics: Participants at this table will share their experience with teaching statistics to engineering students and majors in other scientific disciplines; discuss the unique rewards and challenges of appealing to these learners with a rigorous, yet practical approach; and learn about the evolution of a successful new textbook through collaboration with a great many instructors using a wealth of different methods and curricula. (Sponsor: McGraw Hill)
Mary Parker, Austin Community College, is a Member of the CAUSE Editorial Board. Topic: Teaching Statistics in a Community College - What Resources do you need? Do community college teachers have particular needs different from other college statistics teachers and, if so, how might CAUSE address them? We'll also discuss the efforts in MAA, AMATYC, and NCTM to increase the amount of emphasis on statistics in their organizations.
Dennis Pearl is the Director of the Consortium for the Advancement of Undergraduate Statistics Education (CAUSE), co-author of the Electronic Encyclopedia of Statistical Examples and Exercises and developer of the Statistics Buffet that lets students choose from a variety of course formats to better fit their individual learning styles. Topic:Participants at this table will discuss CAUSE and its initiatives. They will share ideas about what a national organization dedicated to research, professional development, and providing resources to statistics instructors should be doing to support and enhance their efforts. (Sponsor: CAUSE)
Roxy Peck is Associate Dean of the College of Science and Mathematics, Professor of Statistics at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, and one of the USCOTS Plenary Speakers. She is a co-author of two highly-regarded introductory statistics texts as well as the editor of the recently published fourth edition of Statistics: A Guide to the Unknown. Topics:Participants at this table will share approaches for engaging students and fostering student learning in introductory statistics courses. You'll talk about the challenges of teaching introductory statistics with Roxy is nationally known for her work in the statistics education community at both the college and K-12 levels. (Sponsor: Duxbury Press)
Deborah Rumsey is the USCOTS Program Chair and Statistics Education Specialist at The Ohio State University. She is also a member of the CAUSE Advisory and Editorial Boards. Deb is the author of the book, Statistics for Dummies. Topics: We'll talk about the "big ideas and common threads approach" that Deb applies to teaching statistics. We'll also talk about places where students often get bogged down, and how to help them through it. Each person at the lunch table will receive their own copy of the book Statistics for Dummies. (Sponsor: John Wiley and Sons)
Richard Scheaffer, former President of the American Statistical Association, is one of the USCOTS Plenary Speakers. He is also on the CAUSE Advisory Board. Now Professor Emeritus of Statistics at the University of Florida, Dick has co-authored five college-level textbooks covering introductory statistics and aspects of sample survey design, probability, and mathematical statistics. At the K-12 level, he was one of the developers of the ASA's Quantitative Literacy program and the AP Statistics program. Topics: You'll talk about undergraduate courses beyond the introductory course. What topics should be covered in a second course for students who have taken AP statistics? What are the methodological topics that are essential for students in the sciences and social sciences? What about courses for future K-12 teachers of mathematics? (Sponsor: Duxbury Press)
Brian Smith is the Chair of the ASA-AMATYC Joint Committee. That is the Joint Committee of the American Statistical Association and the American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges. Topic: This table is for members of the ASA-AMATYC Joint Committee and anyone else who is interested in finding out more about this joint committee and its initiatives.
Paul Velleman is internationally respected for innovation in statistics education. He is the co-author of Intro Stats, 2e with Dick De Veaux and Dave Bock, and the author and designer of the multimedia statistics CD-ROM ActivStats, for which he was awarded the EDUCOM Medal for innovative uses of computers in teaching Statistics and the ICTCM Award for Using Technology in College Mathematics. He has also developed the award winning statistics program, Data Desk, and the Internet site Data and Story Library (http://dasl.datadesk.com) which provides data sets for teaching statistics. Topic: Teaching multi-section courses and teaching strategies for incorporating technology into your statistics courses. (Sponsor: Addison-Wesley)
Jeff Witmer, Oberlin College, is a member of the CAUSE Editorial Board. Topic: Using Activities in the Intro Stat Course. At this lunch table, you'll talk about ways to incorporate activities into the introductory statistics course. Some of the challenges involve first finding good activities, customizing existing activities to fit your situation, fitting activities into the busy schedule of the course, and assessment.
Roger Woodard and Ginger Rowell are the CAUSEweb Workshop instructors. Topic: CAUSEweb workshop participants (from Thursday) will discuss the areas of pedagogy, curriculum, and research presented at the conference. Participants will then reflect on the material from the workshop and discuss how it relates to the ideas presented at the conference. (3 tables)