Scholarship & Research
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Item Fostering Conceptual Understanding in Mathematical Statistics(2015-12) Green, Jennifer L.; Blankenship, Erin E.In many undergraduate statistics programs, the two-semester calculus-based mathematical statistics sequence is the cornerstone of the curriculum. However, 10 years after the release of the Guidelines for the Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education (GAISE) College Report, 2005, and the subsequent movement to stress conceptual understanding and foster active learning in statistics classrooms, the sequence still remains a traditional, lecture-intensive course. In this article, we discuss various instructional approaches, activities, and assessments that can be used to foster active learning and emphasize conceptual understanding while still covering the necessary theoretical content students need to be successful in subsequent statistics or actuarial science courses. In addition, we share student reflections on these course enhancements. The course revision we suggest doesn't require substantial changes in content, so other mathematical statistics instructors can implement these strategies without sacrificing concepts in probability and inference that are fundamental to the needs of their students. Supplementary materials, including code used to generate class plots and activity handouts, are available online.Item Fostering conceptual understanding in mathematical statistics(2015-12) Green, Jennifer L.; Blankenship, Erin E.In many undergraduate statistics programs, the two-semester calculus-based mathematical statistics sequence is the cornerstone of the curriculum. However, 10 years after the release of the Guidelines for the Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education (GAISE) College Report, 2005, and the subsequent movement to stress conceptual understanding and foster active learning in statistics classrooms, the sequence still remains a traditional, lecture-intensive course. In this article, we discuss various instructional approaches, activities, and assessments that can be used to foster active learning and emphasize conceptual understanding while still covering the necessary theoretical content students need to be successful in subsequent statistics or actuarial science courses. In addition, we share student reflections on these course enhancements. The course revision we suggest doesn’t require substantial changes in content, so other mathematical statistics instructors can implement these strategies without sacrificing concepts in probability and inference that are fundamental to the needs of their students. Supplementary materials, including code used to generate class plots and activity handouts, are available online.Item Primarily statistics: Developing an introductory statistics course for pre-service elementary teachers(2013-11) Green, Jennifer L.; Blankenship, Erin E.We developed an introductory statistics course for pre-service elementary teachers. In this paper, we describe the goals and structure of the course, as well as the assessments we implemented. Additionally, we use example course work to demonstrate pre-service teachers’ progress both in learning statistics and as novice teachers. Overall, the course aims to help pre-service teachers recognize the importance of statistics in the elementary curriculum, as well as the integral role they, as teachers, can play in a student’s entire statistical education. Our course serves as a model/resource for others interested in pre-service teacher development.Item The Development and Evolution of an Introductory Statistics Course for In-Service Middle-Level Mathematics Teachers(2014-11) Schmid, Kendra K.; Blankenship, Erin E.; Kerby, April T.; Green, Jennifer L.; Smith, Wendy M.The statistical preparation of in-service teachers, particularly middle school teachers, has been an area of concern for several years. This paper discusses the creation and delivery of an introductory statistics course as part of a master’s degree program for in-service mathematics teachers. The initial course development took place before the advent of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) and the Mathematics Education of Teachers (MET II) Reports, and even before the GAISE Pre-K-12 Report. Since then, even with the recommendations of MET II and the wide-spread implementation of the CCSSM, the guidance available to faculty wishing to develop a statistics course for professional development of inservice teachers remains scarce. We give an overview of the master’s degree program and discuss aspects of the course, including the goals for the course, course planning and development, the instructional team, course delivery and modifications, and lessons learned through five offerings. With this paper, we share our experiences developing such a course, the evolution of the course over multiple iterations, and what we have learned about its value to the middle-level teachers who have participated. As more and more universities are being asked to develop courses specifically for in-service teachers, we wrote this