Resource Library

In this video (which lasts a little over 21 minutes), Oxford mathematician Peter Donnelly reveals the common mistakes humans make in interpreting statistics -- and the devastating impact these errors can have on the outcome of criminal trials.

Ellen Gundlach and Nancy Palaez (both of Purdue University) use Calibrated Peer Review, an online writing and peer evaluation program available from UCLA, to introduce statistical literacy to Nancy's freshman biology students and to bring a real-world context to statistical concepts for Ellen's introductory statistics classes in an NSF-funded project. CPR allows instructors in large classes to give their students frequent writing assignments without a heavy grading burden. Ellen and Nancy have their students read research journal articles on interesting subjects and use guiding questions to evaluate these articles for statistical content, experimental design features, and ethical concerns.

Statistics educators are keenly aware of the value of using real data to help students see the relevance and applicability of statistics. The federal statistical agencies have invested in significant efforts to make data accessible and available. In this webinar, Ron Wasserstein will point you to these resources, discussing their uses and limitations.

Certitude is not the test of certainty. We have been cock-sure of many things that were not so. is a quote of American Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. (1841 - 1935). The quote is found in an article written by Justice Holmes in 1918 for the "Harvard Law Review" v. 32, page 40. The quote is also found in the book "Statistically Speaking, a Dictionary of Quotations" by Carl Gaither and Alma Cavazos-Gaither.

November 18, 2008 Teaching and Learning webinar presented by Xiao-Li Meng, Harvard University and hosted by Jackie Miller, The Ohio State University. Statistics 105 is a team-designed course that has received local media attention (e.g., www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2008/02.14/11-stats.html). Its course description promises the following: Discover an appreciation of statistical principles and reasoning via "Real-Life Modules" that can make you rich or poor (financial investments), loved or lonely (on-line dating), healthy or ill (clinical trials), satisfied or frustrated (chocolate/wine tasting) and more. Guaranteed to bring happiness (or misery) both to students who have never taken a previous statistics course, and to those who have taken statistics and want to see how statistical thinking applies to so many areas of life. This webinar reveals its history, pedagogical motivation, innovations, and challenges along the way

December 9, 2008 Teaching and Learning webinar presented by John H. Walker, California Polytechnic State University and hosted by Jackie Miller, The Ohio State University. Ethics play an important role in statistical practice. How can we educate our students about statistical ethics--especially when our courses are already packed with so much...statistics? At the Joint Statistical Meetings in August, 2008 Dr. Walker was the discussant in a session on "Teaching Ethics in Statistics Class." The webinar first briefly reviews the points raised by the speakers in that session. George McCabe (Purdue) contrasted the "old" introductory statistics course with its emphasis on methodology to the "new" course. Patricia Humphrey (Georgia Southern) spoke about how she covers ethical data collection in her introductory classes. Paul Velleman (Cornell) talked about the role of judgment in statistical model building and how it makes students (and sometimes us) uncomfortable. The webinar presentation discusses each of these points in the context of the American Statistical Association's "Ethical Guidelines for Statistical Practice" as well as discussing experiences in teaching statistical ethics in an undergraduate capstone course for statistics majors. It closes with an example of statistical ethics in the use of multiple comparison procedures.

April 10, 2007 webinar presented by Maria C. Pruchnicki, The Ohio State University, and hosted by Jackie Miller, The Ohio State University. Distance education and online learning opportunities, collectively known as "e-learning", are becoming increasingly used in higher education. Nationally, online enrollment increased to 3.2 million students in 2005, compared to 2.3 million in 2004. Furthermore, nearly 60% of higher education institutions identify e-learning as part of their long-term education strategy. Newer educational technologies including course management systems and Internet-based conferencing software can be used to both deliver content and engage participants as part of a social learning community. However, even experienced faculty can face pedagogical and operational challenges as they transition to the online environment. This interactive presentation discusses a systematic approach to developing web-based instruction, with an Ohio State University experience as a case example.

January 13, 2009 Teaching and Learning webinar presented by Jo Hardin, Pomona College and hosted by Jackie Miller, The Ohio State University. This webinar discusses the development and teaching of a freshman seminar course. In this course, students investigate the practical, ethical, and philosophical issues raised by the use of statistics and probabilistic thinking in realms such as politics, medicine, sports, the law, and genetics. Students explore issues from fiction, the mainstream media, and scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals. To do all of this, they must consider a wide range of statistical topics as well as encountering a range of uses and abuses of statistics in the world today.

July 10, 2007 Teaching & Learning Webinar presented by Larry Lesser, University of Texas at El Paso, and hosted by Jackie Miler, The Ohio State University. Drawing from (and expanding upon) his article in the March 2007 Journal of Statistics Education, Larry Lesser discusses and invite discussion about examples, resources and pedagogy associated with this meaningful way of engaging students in the statistics classroom.

webinar illustrates how personal response systems (clickers) can be used to address the realization of these three recommendations in large lecture classes (over 70 students). The session discusses general issues of the implementation of clickers and then provides an example of each of the following three uses of clickers in the classroom: 1) questions designed to highlight common conceptual misunderstandings in statistics, 2) questions designed as review questions for topics already addressed, and 3) questions that were part of a class activity to help students learn a concept.