Resource Library

This is a collection of notes that covers many topics typically included in introductory and/or intermediate statistics courses. The notes are in PDF format, and each is followed by a set of exercises (with most answers included). The site also includes some tables and a link to a StatTable calculator.

This is a collection of cases to demonstrate concepts of inferential statistics. Many materials are flash based, which is specifically interesting for young and beginning learners. This resource provides a simple introduction to probability and to Type I and II errors.

The two worksheets enable instructors to demonstrate how changes in the magnitude of the treatment effects and of the standard deviation of the error term will impact significance in a One-Way ANOVA model. The user specifies three input values that influence the simulation of random observations. ANOVA calculations are provided for the student, leaving the focus on the interpretation of the results. The mirror site (found at http://misnt.indstate.edu/cmclaren/ANOVA_Note.doc) contains an article that can serve as a teaching note to accompany the worksheets.

Probability plotter and calculator allows students to explore different distributions and their relationships. Interactive dialogue box allows students to change distribution shape and scaling parameters as well as allowing to explore cumulative probabilities. Discrete distributions include the discrete uniform, binomial, and the poisson. Continuous distributions include the uniform, beta, exponential, weibull, gamma, and lognormal distributions. Sampling distributions include the normal, the t-distribution, the chi-square, and the F-distribution.

Amidst the strange vicissitudes of life, 'tis likely, most unlikely things should happen is a quote by Greek poet Agathon (448-400 BC). The quote is mentioned in Aristotle's (384 - 322 BC) book "Rhetoric". This version of the quote is found on page 357 of the 1823 "A New Translation of Aristotle's Rhetoric" by John Gillies.

In this video (which lasts almost 20 minutes), statistics guru Hans Rosling debunks myths about the so-called "developing world."

In this video (which lasts a little over 21 minutes), Oxford mathematician Peter Donnelly reveals the common mistakes humans make in interpreting statistics -- and the devastating impact these errors can have on the outcome of criminal trials.

August 25, 2009 Activity webinar presented by Michelle Everson, University of Minnesota and hosted by Leigh Slauson, Capital University. In a classroom setting, students can engage in hands-on activities in order to better understand certain concepts and ideas. Replicating hands-on activities in an online environment, however, can be a challenge for instructors. The purpose of this webinar is to present an applet that was created to replicate a "Post-it Note" activity commonly used in classroom sections of an undergraduate introductory statistics course at University of Minnesota. The Post-it Note activity is meant to help students develop a more conceptual understanding of the mean and the median by moving a set of Post-it Notes along a number line. During the webinar, participants have an opportunity to see and experience just how online students are able to interact with an applet named the "Sticky Centers" applet, and the webinar presents the kinds of materials and assignments that have been created to use in conjunction with this applet. The webinar ends with a preview of a newer applet that is being developed in order to replicate the famous "Gummy Bears in Space" activity (presented in Schaeffer, Gnanadesikan, Watkins & Witmer, 1996). A supplemental student handout is available for download free of charge.

This song is an ode to bad teaching in statistics written by Dennis Pearl to be sung to the tune of Roger Miller's 1965 classic country/pop tune "King of the Road." Musical accompaniment realization and vocals are by Joshua Lintz from University of Texas at El Paso.

April 14, 2009 Teaching and Learning webinar presented by Beth Chance and Allan Rossman, Cal Poly, and John Holcomb, Cleveland State University, and hosted by Jackie Miller, The Ohio State University. This webinar presents ideas and activities for helping students to learn fundamental concepts of statistical inference with a randomization-based curriculum rather than normal-based inference. The webinar proposes that this approach leads to deeper conceptual understanding, makes a clear connection between study design and scope of conclusions, and provides a powerful and generalizable analysis framework. During this webinar arguments are presented in favor of such a curriculum, demonstrate some activities through which students can investigate these concepts, highlights some difficulties with implementing this approach, and discusses ideas for assessing student understanding of inference concepts and randomization procedures.