Simulation Activities for Large Classes: Using Clickers to Collect Data

Abstract

Many ideas and recommendations for meeting the GAISE guidelines at the college level have targeted relatively small class sizes. This webinar will provide an overview of a suite of twelve simulation activities that were designed to develop student conceptual understanding of inference in large lecture classes using personal response systems (clickers) to collect data. Details will be provided for three of the activities, in which each student performs a simulation once using a calculator and the results are collected via clickers. The activities allow students to experience statistical concepts such as distributions or models, variability, and the Central Limit Theorem. The large class, therefore, becomes a learning asset, rather than a liability.