Tu-19: Teaching Statistical Writing


By Scott Thatcher, Scott Alberts, & Hyun-Joo Kim (Truman State University)


Abstract

While statistics may be the "Grammar of Science" (Karl Pearson, 1892), we also know that successful data analysis includes good writing skills for multiple audiences. We will share writing activities and rubrics that have been successful at various levels at our public liberal arts university, including:

  •  Activity 1: A short paper where a Stat1 student collects their own body temperature data every day for a month.
  •  Activity 2: A semester-long survey research project in a Stat2 course that concludes with a group paper.
  •  Activity 3: An early assignment in a Stat2 course where students are asked to critique an incorrect analysis and write a short report where the correct test is performed.
  • Activity 4: An integrative assignment for a data visualization course that recreates, critiques, and improves historical graphs such as those by William Playfair (Commercial and Political Atlas (1786) and Statistical Breviary (1801)), using R packages like tidyverse ggplot.


Recording

Tu-19 - Teaching Statistical Writing.pdf