The Consortium for the Advancement of Undergraduate Statistics Education
(CAUSE) is now accepting nominations for the 2015 USCOTS Lifetime
Achievement Award in statistics education. This biennial award is
presented at the U.S. Conference On Teaching Statistics to an individual
who, over an extended period of time, has made lasting contributions
with a broad impact to the field of statistics education especially, but
not limited to, the teaching and learning of college-level statistics.
See https://www.causeweb.org/uscots/awards/ for details.
Nominations are due by February 1, 2015.
Dear Colleagues:
We are looking for instructors of introductory statistics who can help
us to gather some data to assist in refining and finalizing an
assessment of statistical reasoning as part of the NSF e-ATLAS project.
This assessment is called Goals and Outcomes of Learning Statistics
(GOALS). Many of you have given earlier versions of the instrument in
the past as part of our pilot testing. Since then, there have been some
small changes in light of the data analyzed.
Please see below for details on the current version of GOALS. Thank you
for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Joan Garfield, Bob delMas, Andy Zieffler, Elizabeth Fry, Ethan Brown,
and Anelise Sabbag,, University of Minnesota
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GOALS statistical reasoning assessment
The Goals and Outcomes of Learning Statistics (GOALS) assessment was
developed as part of the NSF e-ATLAS project. The primary focus of GOALS
is to assess students’ statistical reasoning developed during a first
statistics course. Based on the pilot testing of an earlier version of
GOALS, we believe that this assessment provides valuable information on
what students are learning and how they are able to reason at the end of
their courses, and ultimately may be used to identify changes in student
learning over time.
GOALS includes 20 forced-choice items which sample the content of a
modern first course in statistics. This content includes students’
understanding and reasoning about important statistical ideas such as
variability, sampling variability, confidence intervals and p-values.
The assessment does not include items related to more traditional topics
such as reading a histogram or interpreting a mean.
We would like your help in gathering data on the new GOALS assessment at
the end of the current fall term. GOALS can be administered online in
about 30 to 45 minutes. While not all of the content on GOALS may be
covered in your course, we expect that nearly all of it will be familiar
to your students.
If you are willing to have your students take the GOALS assessment,
please go to the following link:
https://apps3.cehd.umn.edu/artist/goals
Click the REGISTER button at the bottom of the page, which will take you
to the registration form. You will be asked to enter the following
information:
1. Your name and email address
2. The name of your institution, its location (City, State and
Country), and the type of institution
3. The department you teach in primarily.
4. Your position at your institution.
Once you have filled in all of the requested information, click the
SUBMIT button to send your registration.
Meanwhile, if you have any questions please e-mail Bob delMas at
delma001(a)umn.edu <mailto:delma001@umn.edu>
Thank you so much for helping us work on the development and use of this
instrument.
Sincerely,
The e-ATLAS Team
University of Minnesota
All;
The Taming of Chance Story Competition (brought to us by /The //Fields
Institute for Research in Mathematical Sciences/ in partnership with the
/American Statistical Association/) seeks to answer a critical question
at the center of how statistics is (or is not) relevant to our everyday
lives. Answering the question "What our world be like if the normal
curve had never been discovered", statistics educators and students are
invited to tell a story which makes the subject resonate with a general
audience who increasingly have a need to be quantitatively literate.
The competition judges will be awarding the $2000 grand prize in June of
2015, and to further encourage participation by younger students, an
additional $1500 prize is reserved for entries from students under the
age of 26.
For more information, please see the competition website:
tamingofchance.vretta.com <http://tamingofchance.vretta.com>
*
*
Announcing the "2015 CAUSE A-mu-sing Competition"! Any teacher, student or practitioner of statistics is eligible to enter unpublished examples of statistics jokes/cartoons, songs, poems,
or videos for a chance to win cash prizes, publication on CAUSEWeb and recognition at USCOTS 2015! Entry deadline is April Fool’s Day (April 1), 2015.
Seewww.CAUSEweb.org/uscots/a-mu-sing for complete rules and entry form.
All;
Planning has begun for the next United States Conference on Teaching
Statistics (USCOTS), which will be held at the Penn Stater Conference
Center and Hotel on May 28 – 30, 2015 and hosted by the Consortium for
the Advancement of Undergraduate Statistics Education (CAUSE). We are
seeking ideas for active, participant-focused breakout sessions
addressing the conference theme of Making Connections.
Examples of the types of connections that will be addressed include
those that directly benefit students:
- Making connections with fellow students, both face-to-face and virtually;
- Making connections among statistical concepts, methods, and applications;
- Making connections with earlier educational experiences;
- Making connections with material and skills being learned in other
courses;
- Making connections with later educational experiences;
- Making connections with employment and other professional opportunities;
- Making connections with news reports in popular media.
Other examples include making connections that directly benefit teachers:
- Making connections with other instructors of the same course, with
instructors of quantitative courses in client disciplines, or with
statistics teachers at other institutions;
- Making connections with practicing statisticians and other
professionals who use statistical ideas and methods;
- Making connections with former students and with employers;
- Making connections with education professionals with expertise in
educational research and educational technology and other areas.
We are now requesting proposals for 80-minute breakout sessions that
relate directly to the conference theme and focus on actively engaging
participants. It is *not* appropriate for a breakout session to consist
primarily of a presentation. To propose a breakout session, send a
description of your proposed session to Program Chair Allan Rossman
(arossman(a)calpoly.edu) by December 8, 2014. Your proposal of no more
than 1000 words must include:
- a title for proposed session,
- names, e-mail addresses, and brief biographical sketches for all
leaders of the session,
- description of how the session relates to the conference theme (making
connections),
- explanation of how the session will actively engage participants, and
- discussion of how participants will be able to implement ideas
presented in the session.
Proposals will be reviewed by a committee, and notifications will be
made by January 15, 2015. Proposals for “poster and beyond” sessions
will be solicited at a later date; those proposals will be due on
February 1, 2015.
USCOTS is designed to model good teaching in its sessions, its social
activities, and its hallways. T his conference consists of plenary
sessions, breakout sessions, “poster and beyond” sessions, "birds of a
feather" lunch discussions, technology demonstrations, and a banquet
dinner. More information can be found at: www.CAUSEweb.org/uscots/ .
Best wishes,
Allan J. Rossman
Professor and Chair
Statistics Department
Cal Poly
San Luis Obispo, CA 93407
arossman(a)calpoly.edu
http://statweb.calpoly.edu/arossman/
The CAUSE webinar program is brought to you thanks to generous
contributions from:
*Freeman Publishing; JMP software from SAS; Minitab Inc.; and Pearson
Higher Education.*
*/"What is the probability you are a Bayesian"/*
with Shaun S. Wulff, University of Wyoming
3:00 - 3:30pm Eastern time, Tuesday, November 18, 2014
/(note the different start time than usual)/
Students need exposure to Bayesian thinking at early stages in their
mathematics and statistics education. While many students in upper level
probability courses can generally recite the differences in the
Frequentist and Bayesian inferential paradigms, these students often
struggle using Bayesian methods when conducting data analysis.
Specifically, students tend to struggle translating subjective belief to
the specification of a prior distribution and the incorporation of
uncertainty in the Bayesian inferential approach. The purpose of this
webinar is to present a hands-on activity involving the Beta-Binomial
model to facilitate an intuitive understanding of the Bayesian approach
through subjective problem formulation which lies at the heart of
Bayesian statistics.
The webinar will be conducted using the GoToWebinar software platform. A
computer with internet access is all you need. GoToWebinar offers audio
participation through your computer microphone. For participants in the
US and Canada, if you prefer the telephone for audio participation, this
feature is also available.
All registered webinar attendees will receive a confirmation email
generated by the GoToWebinar system upon registering. This email
includes a link to enter the webinar. Keep this confirmation email as
you will use this link to enter the webinar – you will also be sent a
reminder with the link two hours before the webinar begins. Once you
leave the webinar, you cannot re-enter. If you have not used GoToWebinar
before, please review the information below. The webinar will be
recorded and the archived version will be available on-line within a few
days following the presentation, if you are unable to attend.
We will make available to registered participants, in advance of the
webinar, the PowerPoint slides to enable you to take notes on the slides
during the presentation.
*/Please note: Change in Participation Link:/*
Sign-up to participate in this webinar:
https://causeweb.vmhost.psu.edu/webinar/jse/2014-11/
*/
/*
*/New to GoToWebinar?
/*
You will see the live presentation on your computer screen and the sound
of the presentation will come through your computer. If you can listen
to music or hear videos on your computer, your computer has the
capability for you to hear the presentation. For your voice to be heard
by the presenters, if you wish to ask a question, GTW gives viewers the
option of VoIP (voice over the internet) or a telephone option for U.S.
and Canadian participants. VoIP will allow everyone from around the
world to participate without additional cost. The option to change from
VoIP to phone will appear in the screen of options after you enter the
webinar. If you wish to change to phone, follow the instructions and
enter the provided pin number. If you are using VoIP, you will need a
microphone attached to your computer so that your question can be heard
by the presenter/audience.
GoToWebinar offers a short video, “Attendee Quick Start (5:09)
<http://support.citrixonline.com/en_US/GoToMeeting/video/GTMV00012>”,
which you may find helpful:
http://support.citrixonline.com/en_US/GoToMeeting/video/GTMV00012
*For PC-based participants:
*
* Internet Explorer 7.0 or newer, Mozilla Firefox 4.0 or newer or
Google Chrome 5.0 or newer. JavaScript must be enabled.
* Windows 8, 7, Vista, XP or 2003 Server.
* Cable modem, DSL, or better Internet connection.
* Dual-core 2.4GHz CPU or faster with 2GB of RAM or more.
* Participants wishing to connect to audio using VoIP will need a
fast Internet connection, a microphone and speakers (or USB headset).
*For Mac-based participants:
*
* Safari 3.0 or newer, Firefox 4.0 or newer or Google Chrome 5.0 or
newer. JavaScript must be enabled.
* Mac OS X 10.6 – Snow Leopard or newer.
* Intel processor with 1GB of RAM or more.
* Cable modem, DSL, or better Internet connection.
* Macs have built-in speakers and a microphone with ambient noise
reduction that will work well for VoIP.
*For participants with GoToMeeting app for iPad, iPhone, or Android:
*
* Free GoToMeeting app from the App Store or Google Play.
* WiFi connection recommended for VoIP audio.
*For attendees with GoToMeeting app for Windows RT tablet:
*
* Free GoToMeeting app from the Windows Store.
* x86, x64 or ARM processor.
* WiFi connection recommended to use VoIP.
The CAUSE webinar program is brought to you thanks to generous
contributions from:
*Freeman Publishing; JMP software from SAS; Minitab Inc.; and Pearson
Higher Education.*
*/"What is the probability you are a Bayesian"/*
with Shaun S. Wulff, University of Wyoming
3:00 - 3:30pm Eastern time, Tuesday, November 18, 2014
/(note the different start time than usual)/
Students need exposure to Bayesian thinking at early stages in their
mathematics and statistics education. While many students in upper level
probability courses can generally recite the differences in the
Frequentist and Bayesian inferential paradigms, these students often
struggle using Bayesian methods when conducting data analysis.
Specifically, students tend to struggle translating subjective belief to
the specification of a prior distribution and the incorporation of
uncertainty in the Bayesian inferential approach. The purpose of this
webinar is to present a hands-on activity involving the Beta-Binomial
model to facilitate an intuitive understanding of the Bayesian approach
through subjective problem formulation which lies at the heart of
Bayesian statistics.
The webinar will be conducted using the GoToWebinar software platform. A
computer with internet access is all you need. GoToWebinar offers audio
participation through your computer microphone. For participants in the
US and Canada, if you prefer the telephone for audio participation, this
feature is also available.
All registered webinar attendees will receive a confirmation email
generated by the GoToWebinar system upon registering. This email
includes a link to enter the webinar. Keep this confirmation email as
you will use this link to enter the webinar – you will also be sent a
reminder with the link two hours before the webinar begins. Once you
leave the webinar, you cannot re-enter. If you have not used GoToWebinar
before, please review the information below. The webinar will be
recorded and the archived version will be available on-line within a few
days following the presentation, if you are unable to attend.
We will make available to registered participants, in advance of the
webinar, the PowerPoint slides to enable you to take notes on the slides
during the presentation.
Sign-up to participate in this webinar:
https://causeweb.vmhost.psu.edu/webinar/jse/2014-11/
<https://www.causeweb.org/webinar/teaching/2014-09/>
*/
/*
*/New to GoToWebinar?
/*
You will see the live presentation on your computer screen and the sound
of the presentation will come through your computer. If you can listen
to music or hear videos on your computer, your computer has the
capability for you to hear the presentation. For your voice to be heard
by the presenters, if you wish to ask a question, GTW gives viewers the
option of VoIP (voice over the internet) or a telephone option for U.S.
and Canadian participants. VoIP will allow everyone from around the
world to participate without additional cost. The option to change from
VoIP to phone will appear in the screen of options after you enter the
webinar. If you wish to change to phone, follow the instructions and
enter the provided pin number. If you are using VoIP, you will need a
microphone attached to your computer so that your question can be heard
by the presenter/audience.
GoToWebinar offers a short video, “Attendee Quick Start (5:09)
<http://support.citrixonline.com/en_US/GoToMeeting/video/GTMV00012>”,
which you may find helpful:
http://support.citrixonline.com/en_US/GoToMeeting/video/GTMV00012
*For PC-based participants:
*
* Internet Explorer 7.0 or newer, Mozilla Firefox 4.0 or newer or
Google Chrome 5.0 or newer. JavaScript must be enabled.
* Windows 8, 7, Vista, XP or 2003 Server.
* Cable modem, DSL, or better Internet connection.
* Dual-core 2.4GHz CPU or faster with 2GB of RAM or more.
* Participants wishing to connect to audio using VoIP will need a
fast Internet connection, a microphone and speakers (or USB headset).
*For Mac-based participants:
*
* Safari 3.0 or newer, Firefox 4.0 or newer or Google Chrome 5.0 or
newer. JavaScript must be enabled.
* Mac OS X 10.6 – Snow Leopard or newer.
* Intel processor with 1GB of RAM or more.
* Cable modem, DSL, or better Internet connection.
* Macs have built-in speakers and a microphone with ambient noise
reduction that will work well for VoIP.
*For participants with GoToMeeting app for iPad, iPhone, or Android:
*
* Free GoToMeeting app from the App Store or Google Play.
* WiFi connection recommended for VoIP audio.
*For attendees with GoToMeeting app for Windows RT tablet:
*
* Free GoToMeeting app from the Windows Store.
* x86, x64 or ARM processor.
* WiFi connection recommended to use VoIP.