WHAT'S NEW AT CAUSEweb?
(Roger Woodard)

Digital Class Notes for SAS, SPSS, or Stata

Learning to use statistical software is often very difficult. For some people it is especially difficult to learn software from written manuals and instructions. However, those same individuals might understand techniques instantly if you do a simple demonstration of the software. This month's featured resource is a set of class notes for using SAS, SPSS, and Stata. What makes these notes unique is that they include a screen capture movies that walk the user through use of the software. The video shows only the computer screen and includes the mouse movements. It also includes a voice narration. Topics covered include basics of data handling, exploring and analyzing data. If you are looking for an out of class introduction to any of these three packages for your students (or for yourself) give these a look. You can find them at:
www.causeweb.org/cwis/SPT--FullRecord.php?ResourceId=1167 (for SPSS)
www.causeweb.org/cwis/SPT--FullRecord.php?ResourceId=1166 (for SAS)
www.causeweb.org/cwis/SPT--FullRecord.php?ResourceId=1165 (for Stata)

Why register at CAUSEweb?

Do you have a favorite resource for teaching software? If so why not share it with your fellow statistic teachers by submitting it to CAUSEweb. If it is already submitted tell people about your experiences with it by making a post on the resources forum. Submitting resources and posting to our forums are free but you must be a registered member.

Please send your comments, questions, or suggestions about CAUSEweb to Roger Woodard at woodard@stat.ncsu.edu.

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CAUSE UPDATE
(Dennis Pearl)

CAUSE joins in Math Gateway Project

CAUSE is one of the founding partners in the Math Gateway project that will create a portal connecting numerous digital libraries in the mathematical sciences. The project is coordinated by the MAA and along with CAUSE includes MERLOT, Math Forum, iLumina, College Board, Demos with Positive Impact, National Curve Bank, Virtual Laboratories in Probability and Statistics, the Ethnomathematics Digital Library, the Duke Connected Curriculum Project, the webODE Project, Eduworks, WeBWork, and Mathematics Survey. The Math Gateway features a regular Math in the News column, uses a shared taxonomy for searching across libraries, and will host a variety of workshops at MAA meetings to highlight learning opportunities afforded by the partnering libraries. The Math Gateway website is set to roll out this month at mathgateway.nsdl.org.

Next CAUSE Webinar is February 14th

Jackie Miller, The Ohio State University, launched an exciting new CAUSE activity by presenting our first Webinar: "Putting your spotlight on CAUSEweb" on January 10th. A Webinar is a web-based seminar where participants watch presentations on their computer while joining in the conversation via phone and by sharing the work on their own screen. CAUSE hosts Webinars on the second Tuesday of each month. The next Webinar, on February 14th from 2:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. EST, will feature Webster West giving participants hands-on experience with StatCrunch. You can sign-up for this free activity and find a recording of our first Webinar at www.causeweb.org/webinar.

For more information on workshops and other CAUSE activities, contact Dennis Pearl at dkp@stat.osu.edu.

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PUTTING USCOTS INTO ACTION: PARTICIPANT FOLLOW UP

Here's a follow up from Jorge Romeo, Department of Mechanical, Aeronautical and Manufacturing Engineering, Syracuse University:

"I appreciate the opportunity to express some of the things I got from attending USCOTS earlier this year. First, I got to meet a lot of people with whom I had interacted via email, which will make such interaction much better, as well as to meet new people whose endeavor in stats ed is mutually shared. This enhances my working horizon. I had an opportunity to run my work through the prism of others, and learn of what others are doing in this area. I had the opportunity to learn about new web based stats software that I immediately put to use in my summer courses as well as in my international education workshops.

As an immigrant from Iberoamerica, I felt compelled to share these experiences with my colleagues and friends there, through the Juarez Lincoln Marti international education project monthly E-Bulletin (http://web.cortland.edu/matresearch ) and the IASE E-journal Hipotesis Alternativa. Sometimes the two worlds of North America (US and Canada) and Iberoamerica (Spain, Portugal and Latin America) seem too far apart from each other. This only negatively affects our work since in many cases we are doing similar things except we do not know of it. Facilitating the connection between the two, is a small way of paying back to both of these worlds: the one I have inserted myself into, and the one I come from and have never left behind."

Please email your USCOTS follow up to Deb Rumsey at rumsey@stat.osu.edu.

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STATISTICS EDUCATION RESEARCH UDDATE
(Joan Garfield)

Check out SERJ - The Statistics Education Research Journal SERJ was established in 2002 to provide a peer-reviewed electronic research journal to the statistics education community. It is an official journal of International Association for Statistical Education (IASE) and the International Statistical Institute (ISI), and is published twice a year. It is freely accessible on the Internet at: www.stat.auckland.ac.nz/~iase/publications.php?show=serj There is an interesting article in the most recent issue of SERJ titled "Pre-service Elementary Teachers' Metaphors for the Concept of a Statistical Sample" by Randall Groth and Jennifer Bergner. This study examines the use of metaphors in revealing what students (in this case, pre-service elementary teachers who have already taken a course in introductory statistics) understand and communicate about statistical concepts. They use a writing probe that is analyzed and responses are categorized into different levels of understanding the idea of a sample.

Papers published in SERJ contribute to research based knowledge that can help to improve the teaching, learning, and understanding of statistics or probability at all educational levels and in both formal (classroom-based) and informal (out-of-classroom) contexts. Papers come from a variety of disciplines and address diverse issues such as cognitive, curricular, and technological factors related to the development and understanding of statistical knowledge.

Please submit your statistics education research comments or questions to Joan Garfield at jbg@umn.edu.

Also visit CAUSE Research Frequently Asked Questions: www.causeweb.org/research/gettingstarted/faq.php.

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USCOTS E-NEWS is published quarterly by CAUSE, the Consortium for the Advancement of Undergraduate Statistics Education (www.causeweb.org).

Send your comments on USCOTS E-NEWS to rumsey@stat.osu.edu.

If you would like to cancel your subscription, or wish to be added to our list, please email Jean (Demaree) Scott at jscott@stat.osu.edu.