Design of Experiments

A cartoon for use in discussions about the value of using a placebo in an experiment. The cartoon is the work of Theresa McCracken and appears as #7813 on McHumor.com Free for non-profit use in statistics course such as in lectures and course websites.

A joke that might be used in discussing correlation - especially in health studies. The joke is adapted from a joke told by comedic magician Omar Covarrubias. The revised joke was written by Larry Lesser, University of Texas at El Paso, for use in the statistics classroom.

April 27, 2010 Activity webinar presented by Shonda Kuiper, Grinnell College, and hosted by Leigh Slauson, Capital University. Educational games have had varied success in the past. However, what it means to incorporate games into the classroom has changed dramatically in the last 10 years. The goals of these games are to 1) foster a sense of engagement, 2) have a low threat of failure, 3) allow instructors to create simplified models of the world around us, and 4) motivate students to learn. This webinar uses the same reaction time game to demonstrate a simple 1- 2 day activity that is appropriate for introductory courses as well as an advanced project that encourages students to experience data analysis as it is actually practiced in multiple disciplines. In the introductory activity students are asked to spend 15 minutes playing an on-line game. Data collected from the game is used to demonstrate the importance of proper data collection and appropriate statistical analysis. The advanced project asks students to read primary literature, plan and carry out game based experiments, and present their results.

Care must be taken in planning experiments so that the differences to be examined for significance should be those which furnish an answer to the question which we are asking. is a quote from British statistician William Sealy Gosset (a.k.a. Student: 1876 - 1937). The quote appears in a 1931 letter to "Biometrika" in which he was addressing some criticism of his work by Karl Pearson.