The Bootstrap Method The bootstrap method is a very useful tool to have an introductory statistics class. The bootstrap method begins with a sample of size n. Then a large number (I use 10,000 in my classes) of samples of size n are drawn with replacement from that sample. A sample statistic is computed for each sample. A typical use of bootstrapping involves the mean, but this procedure can be applied to the median, quartiles, variance, … Percentiles can be…
My first week of day-by-day blogging is complete. If you’d like to see where I go in week 2, including an introduction to inferential statistics through simulation and randomization, check out the blog here: https://georgewoodbury.com/statblog/. I created the blog to discuss the power of Interactive Statistics, Interactive Reading Assignments (read a little, watch a little, do a little), Learning Catalytics, StatCrunch, and the Flipped Classroom. I promise you will find tips and tools that will increase student learning.
I’m really proud of this latest study involving our Interactive Statistics (I am a co-author with Michael Sullivan) by Sam Bazzi at Henry Ford College. I saw Sam present his results at ICTCM and was really impressed. I encourage you to check out his case study. Read the Study Here This reinforces the fact that there is not a better product to use in an online statistics course: students persisted at higher rates and their test scores improved as the…
I have had a few questions about how I am managing to work all of these early inferential projects into my Intro Stats course. 1) Switching from Chapter Exams to a Midterm and a Final In the first 7 chapters of our textbook I used to give 4 exams. That means that I would use 4 days for exams and approximately 6 days for review. I have 4 days built into my calendar for review (2 days) and the midterm…
This semester I have incorporated a three-pronged strategy in my intro statistics classes: Flip the classroom – having students learn material at home Make the classroom more engaging – using more group activities and Learning Catalytics sessions Focus on early inferential statistics early and often This week began with students learning about the 5-number summary and how to create a boxplot. On Monday we did an activity where students compared two samples of quantitative data in an effort to determine…
My students are wrapping up the part of the course where we cover descriptive statistics. I gave them two sets of data (test scores from two different versions of the same exam) and they spent the day in class computing sample statistics and creating graphs for each sample. Their overall goal was to analyze their results and determine whether there was a significant difference between the two versions or not. Download a pdf of this activity Students compared measures of…
On day 7 of instruction in my intro statistics course we spent the class working through a project comparing two population proportions using resampling. Click here to download a pdf copy of the project: Two Proportion Resampling Hands-On First Mike Sullivan recommends a hands-on simulation before turning to the computers, so I began by using poker chips for this scenario: A random sample of 15 students at my college had 9 female students in it (60% female), while a random…
I took last semester off (bank leave), so Monday will be the first day teaching students in about eight months. What did I do during that time? I worked on the three R’s: resting, reading, and redesigning my classes. Resting I have taught a full load of classes every semester (and nearly every summer) since I started at College of Sequoias back in 1994. I did not think I needed a break because I did not feel the burnout that…