an old "walks into a bar" joke with a statistics twist.
A "12 page" tutorial that explores the liner models via excel spreadsheets. The learning module leads the user through various aspects of linear modeling. This tutorial includes a worksheet that allows students to vary the scatter (or noise) level, by adjusting the scroll bar or by clicking on the arrows, to see how the slope and intercept of line respond to the addition of scatter to the data, while monitoring the value of r^2.
This applet allows the user to simulate a race where the results are based on the roll of a die. For each outcome of the die, the user chooses which player moves forward. Then that car moves forward the given number of spaces. Users can experiment with the race by determining which player will win more often based on the rules that they specify.
This general, introductory tutorial on mathematical modeling (in pdf format) is intended to provide an introduction to the correct analysis of data. It addresses, in an elementary way, those ideas that are important to the effort of distinguishing information from error. This distinction constitutes the central theme of the material described herein. Both deterministic modeling (univariate regression) as well as the (stochastic) modeling of random variables are considered, with emphasis on the latter. No attempt is made to cover every topic of relevance. Instead, attention is focussed on elucidating and illustrating core concepts as they apply to empirical data.