Class Experiment: Introduce t-tests and more, with haiku poems


Tuesday, June 22nd, 20102:30 pm – 3:00 pm ET

Presented by: Paul Roback, St. Olaf College


Abstract

This webinar will describe an in-class activity, motivated by Case Study 1.1.1 in The Statistical Sleuth, in which students compose haiku poems about statistics. Their poems are used to introduce two-sample t-tests and randomization tests. In addition, the in-class experiment leads to good discussion about experimental design issues, where students compare our design to the actual experiment described in Amabile et al.(1985; "Motivation and Creativity: Effects of Motivational Orientation on Creative Writers", Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 48(2): 393-399). I use this activity on the first day of our second course in applied statistics (Statistical Modeling), but it could easily be used in an introductory course as well.

Examples of haiku poems which have resulted from this activity can be found at www.causeweb.org/cwis/SPT--FullRecord.php?ResourceId=1883.


Recording

Materials