By Ryne VanKrevelen, Laura Taylor, and Heather Barker (Elon University)
Information
This poster will present details on administering a hands-on random sampling activity and how the activity can be extended using StatCrunch applets for an introductory statistics class. The activity utilizes a box of thousands of colored pellets which represent a population of Cane Toads in a forest from which students will draw random samples. Built-in applets in StatCrunch are used to duplicate the hands-on process that students completed in class a large number of times in order to introduce students to sampling variability and sampling distributions. This activity is suitable for the first-day of class. The poster also highlights preliminary results from a study done in two sections of introductory statistics with approximately 30 students each during a three-week winter term. The Cane Toads activity and two other hands-on activities were extended with StatCrunch simulations. Students were given preliminary questions to assess baseline knowledge, follow-up questions immediately after the activities, and a reassessment to measure retention. Preliminary results presented in the poster will focus on student perceptions related to the activities. Institutionally, a subscription to MyStatLab, which includes StatCrunch, are required in the course. However, each of the activities could be replicated using other freely available simulation applets.