Enriching Introductory Statistics Courses Through Community Awareness

In this paper we will present ways in which we have improved our introductory statistics courses by making connections with our community. We focus on three primary approaches: course structure, course content, and bringing in outside contacts and experiences. Changes to course structure include things like course projects and assignments that form an explicit part of the course workload for students. Our discussion of course content will consist of examples we use to illustrate learning objectives through a community connection. We then discuss how we incorporate consulting and other outside contacts to improve our courses. We also discuss student feedback and reactions.