So, I take a semester off and everything goes off the rails??? I was on bank leave in Spring 2020, and it pained me to watch what you all had to go through as you shifted to remote instruction. That goes for faculty and students. I love a challenge and wish I had been there in the trenches with you.This semester I am back, teaching 3 sections of Statistics with Support. All are being taught asynchronously. I am fortunate to…
On my StatBlog I put together a post about this spring’s StatCrunch contest – check it out here. This is a fun contest for students to use what they are learning in your Intro Stats class and use a set of data to tell a story. There are cash prizes for the top three finishers. Link to the Contest YouTube Conference Announcement Please share with your students. You do not need to be using StatCrunch in your classes – Pearson…
Last fall I began using an approach to incorporate inferential techniques into my Intro Stats course much earlier than I used to. (Hat tip to Matt Davis from Chabot College in CA for the inspiration to do this.) I began using simulations, randomization, and bootstrapping to start exploring statistical inference. I introduced my students to the concept of confidence intervals and evaluating claims about population parameters based on sample evidence. I first formalize the hypothesis testing language and procedure with…
Last fall I started teaching my intro stats class using the flipped classroom model. I have found many benefits to this approach: My students are more active and engaged in class. I am able to cover much more material than I ever covered before – including simulations, bootstrapping, and non parametric tests. My students level of understanding when it comes to inferential statistics and the “big picture” is higher than ever. I am currently blogging each day, documenting my progress…
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 am starting a new blog to document my day-to-day activities in my introductory statistics classes in Fall 2017, as well as sharing general thoughts on teaching statistics, using Interactive Statistics, incorporating technology, and many other ideas. I will also be sharing classroom materials as I use them. You can check it out here: George Woodbury’s Statistics Blog: https://georgewoodbury.com/statblog/ I have included buttons for following the blog via email or WordPress. George
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…
Last semester I flipped my Statistics classroom, and was really happy with the results. I have put together some pages explaining exactly how I flipped the classroom, with links/descriptions of documents that I used along with a calendar showing how I we covered the material. You can find it all at http://georgewoodbury.com/flip I will be adding more to the site as I make my way through a second semester of flipping that classroom – this time in a short-term (8…
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…