Introductory Statistics Projects Using 'The Islands' Virtual World Versus Student-Collected Data

Abstract

The Islands is a virtual world, created by Dr. Michael Bulmer from the University of Queensland, that can be used as a vehicle for student-led data collection. The Islands allows students to encounter “real-world” issues like obtaining consent, respondents who don’t tell the truth, measurement variability, and more in a safe environment. We have begun the early stages of investigating how student enjoyment, confidence, and learning differ between projects that use The Islands versus those that have students collect their own “real-world” data. In this webinar, we will introduce several features of The Islands, explain how we have used it in our introductory statistics classes, and share initial results from our research comparing these two types of projects.