Teaching Statistics with Chocolate Chip Cookies


Tuesday, April 28th, 20092:30 pm – 3:00 pm ET

Presented by: Herbert Lee, University of California - Santa Cruz


Abstract

Getting and retaining the attention of students in an introductory statistics course can be a challenge, and poor motivation or outright fear of mathematical concepts can hinder learning. By using an example as familiar and comforting as chocolate chip cookies, the instructor can make a variety of statistical concepts come to life for the students, greatly enhancing learning. Topics from variability and exploratory data analysis to hypothesis testing and Bayesian statistics can be illuminated with cookies.


Materials