In order to educate high school students in statistical reasoning, we have developed, under National Science Foundation support, a computer-enhanced curriculum called Reasoning Under Uncertainty and microcomputer software called ELASTIC. The curriculum emphasizes reasoning and learning-by-doing as methods for helping students understand the hows and whys of statistics. The software is built on design principles of interactivity, visualization, and multiple, linked representations; it provides a laboratory in which students can explore the underlying meaning of abstract statistical concepts and processes. This paper describes the innovative aspects of the software and curriculum and the results of a field test in two high school classrooms- one urban, one suburban.
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