This paper illustrates how Excel can be used by students to develop their statistical understanding. The student can vary data values by simply dragging data points on graphs and charts and seeing how this affects statistical estimates; thus, by visually exploring the effects of changing data values, students can get a feel for statistical concepts. Excel spreadsheets have been developed to explore both univariate, bivariate and inferential statistical topics. It is important when teaching statistics to non-statisticians that new statistical ideas are presented in a familiar and relevant context. The flexibility of Excel spreadsheets means that tutors can download relevant examples into the spreadsheet. The spreadsheets and some sample data sets are available on the World Wide Web.
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