Identifying and Addressing Difficult Concepts for Students in the Introductory Statistics Course


Presented by

Deborah Rumsey, The Ohio State University; and Leigh Slauson, Capital University

Saturday, December 8th, 2012; 9:00am - 4:30pm

About

We know that students have difficulty with certain topics in statistics, and it can be difficult to determine the best approach to take to help our students work through these topics. In this workshop, we take a selection of difficult concepts, zoom in on exactly what the problems are from the student's point of view, and examine where, when, and how to address them in our course. Along the way, we will examine these difficult statistical concepts in detail, and look for common threads that may even lead us back to issues from Chapter 1. The workshop will also discuss the Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education (GAISE) objectives for a statistically educated citizen. The workshop is particularly geared toward instructors at two-year colleges. Instructors new to teaching statistics as well those who have been teaching for a while will find the workshop beneficial. Supported by NSF DUE #0942924 & 0942456.

There is no registration fee for this workshop. However, advance registration is required, and confirmation of acceptance will be sent. Space is limited. There will be no on-site registration; walk-ins on the day of the workshop will not be accommodated. Workshop participants are responsible for their own transportation, lodging, and parking. Lunch will be provided.

About the Presenters

Deborah Rumsey Deborah Rumsey is an Auxiliary Professor and Statistics Education Specialist in the Department of Statistics at The Ohio State University. Dr. Rumsey is a Fellow of the American Statistical Association. She has served on the ASA Advisory Committee on Teacher Enhancement (as Chair); the Statistics Education Executive Committee; and as an Editor of the Teaching Bits Section of the Journal of Statistics Education. She is a co- founder of CAUSE, the Consortium for the Advancement of Undergraduate Statistics Education (with Joan Garfield) and was the first CAUSE Associate Director of Outreach. She was the original conference designer and program chair of the biennial United States Conference on Teaching Statistics (USCOTS) for 2005 - 2011. Dr. Rumsey is the author of six books: Statistics for Dummies, Intermediate Statistics for Dummies, Statistics Workbook for Dummies, Probability for Dummies, Statistics II for Dummies, and Statistics Essentials for Dummies. Dr. Rumsey has published many papers and given many professional presentations on the subject of statistics education. Her particular interests include curriculum materials development, teacher development and support, and designing optimal student learning spaces.

Leigh Slauson Leigh Slauson is an assistant professor of Statistics and Mathematics at Capital University, a small liberal arts college in Columbus OH. Dr. Slauson has taught introductory statistics at multiple institutions (from large research universities to community colleges to small professional schools) to students with a variety of mathematical backgrounds for nearly fourteen years. Professor Slauson is very active in the statistics education community and with CAUSE. She regularly presents at the Joint Statistical Meetings and USCOTS and is the activity webinar host for CAUSE. She works frequently with pre-service teachers, and is especially interested in the statistical education of future K-12 teachers. She wrote an article last spring for the Statistics Teacher Network and worked on the Bridging the Gap Between Common Core State Standards and Teaching Statistics document. She was also on the program committee for the recent OCTM conference held here in Columbus. Leigh's current research interests involve understanding the role confirmation bias plays in students' learning about sampling and what are the most effective ways to implement online homework systems in a statistics course.

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