"GAISEing Beyond the Crossroads: Improving Instruction in Introductory Statistics"


Presented by

Bob delMas, University of Minnesota; Mary Parker, University of Texas, Austin; and special topic instructors John Climent, Cecil Community College; Glenn Miller, Borough of Manhattan Community College

Monday, June 16 - Friday, June 20, 2008

About

The Consortium for the Advancement of Undergraduate Statistics Education (CAUSE), in partnership with Cape Cod Community College and AMATYC, is sponsoring this five-day workshop GAISEing Beyond the Crossroads. This workshop will provide participants with direct experience that will help them develop classroom activities and assessments that are aligned with both the ASA endorsed Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education (GAISE; www.amstat.org/education/gaise) and recommendations in the AMATYC publication, Beyond Crossroads. Each participant will be part of a team that develops a lesson plan and materials by the end of the workshop that can be incorporated into an introductory statistics course.

About the Presenters

Bob delMas is an Associate Professor, Department of Educational Psychology, University of Minnesota. He is a co-PI of the NSF funded project, Assessment Resource Tools for Improving Statistical Thinking (ARTIST), and of the NSF-funded project Adapting and Implementing Innovative Materials in Statistics Courses (AIMS). He has made several presentations with Joan Garfield and Beth Chance on their joint research into the effective use of software to promote students statistical thinking and reasoning. Their work has been published in the Journal of Statistics Education (JSE) and is highlighted in the book "Statistical Thinking, Reasoning, and Literacy" (Kluwer) that provides an international perspective on current statistics education research. Bob also conducts research on students understanding of the standard deviation, which has been published in the Statistics Education Research Journal (SERJ). He is an associate editor for the Journal of Statistics Education, a research consultant for CAUSE (Consortium for the Advancement of Undergraduate Statistics Education), and the current chair of the Joint ASA/AMATYC committee on Statistics Education.

John Climent earned a B.S in Engineering Science and an M.A. in Mathematics from Hofstra University. He later earned a Ph.D. in Statistics from the University of Delaware. He is the Chair for Mathematics and Physics at Cecil College, a small two year college in Maryland. He is well known in the college math community in Maryland, where he co-chaired the committee that established common cut scores on Accuplacer and Compass, for placement into the entry level general education course for Maryland's colleges. He was also the primary author of the statewide document that defined the intermediate algebra skills needed for placement into the entry level general education course for Maryland's colleges. He is passionate about Introductory Statistics. He is a firm believer in the GAISE guidelines for statistics. He is a frequent presenter at AMATYC on math and statistics and he is currently the Chair of the AMATYC Statistics sub-committee.

Glenn Miller has been teaching statistics at the Borough of Manhattan Community College since 1987. He earned his doctorate from Columbia Univeristy's Teachers College. His interest in student assessment in statistics stems from his dissertation, "The Relationship Between College Student Learning Styles and Assessment Methods in Elementary Statistics." He has presented at many AMATYC conferences and served on the statistics committee for many years.

Workshop logistics

Location: The Institute will be held on the campus of Cape Cod Community College, West Barnstable, MA (www.capecod.mass.edu). Information on the Cape Cod area can be found at www.capecodtoday.com

Workshop session times: The workshop will begin promptly at 8:30am on Monday, June 16. Monday and Tuesday the workshop sessions will last from 8:30am to 5pm. On Wednesday the workshop will begin at 8:30am and conclude about noon - in time for everyone who is interested to go on the whale watching tour and dinner. Thursday sessions will be 8:30am-4:30pm and Friday 8:30-12noon. There will be an optional barbeque for all participants on Sunday, June 15th evening from 7-9pm at the Corsair and Cross Rip Resorts.

Lodging: Lodging is provided for participants living more then 30 miles from Cape Cod Community College on Sunday, June 15 through Thursday, June 19 (with checkout on Friday morning Friday, June 20). Lodging will be at the Corsair and Cross Rip Oceanfront Resorts in Dennisport, MA (www.corsaircrossrip.com), which is right on the beach in Nantucket Sound. Double or single rooms are available; most rooms include kitchenettes, two queen beds, ocean views, and Jacuzzi bath tubs. Upgraded rooms, additional rooms or extended stays may be available at your own expense, contact the resort directly to request an upgrade.

Transportation: Participants are responsible for their own transportation to Cape Cod as well as to and from the workshop each day. Participants can fly into either Logan International airport (BOS) in Boston, MA or TF Green airport (PVD) in Providence, RI. Renting a car at the airport is recommended given that public transportation around the Cape is minimal. The Plymouth and Brockton Bus Lines provide bus transportation from Logan to Hyannis. The workshop is about 15 miles from the resort.

Registration fee: You must be an AMATYC member to participate the AMATYC Statistics Summer Institute. A 1-year AMATYC membership costs $75, and can be purchased online at www.amatyc.org/Join-AMATYC. You will need to enter your AMATYC registration number when you register for the workshop. Other than the AMATYC membership, there is no additional registration fee.

Meals: Barbeque on Sunday evening, as well as a continental breakfast and lunch each day, are provided. Participants are responsible for all other meals.

Social Events: There will be a group barbeque on Sunday evening at the Corsair and Cross Rip Resort at no cost to the participants. Participants can elect to go on a Whale Watch Wednesday afternoon ($25 per person, guests welcome) and attend a group dinner (individual pay, guests welcome) following the Whale Watch.

Cancellation Policy: The Summer Institute will be held only if a minimum enrollment is reached by April 15, 2008.

Expectations

Please note: CAUSEway workshops receive principal funding from a National Science Foundation grant. As part of that award, Science and Mathematics Program Improvement (SAMPI) at Western Michigan University will be conducting an independent evaluation of all CAUSEway activities and workshop participants are expected to fully participate in this evaluation.

Materials

Agenda

Sunday7:00 PM - 9:00 PMOpening Dinner and Reception
Monday8:30 AM - 5:00 PMDeveloping Statistical Literacy and Thinking: Using Assessment to improve student learning
Tuesday8:30 AM - 5:00 PMUsing real data; Emphasizing conceptual understanding; Teams brainstorm lesson topics
Wednesday8:30 AM - 12:30 PMFostering Active Learning
1:30 PM - 9:00 PMWhale Watch and Dinner
Thursday8:30 AM - 4:30 PMUsing Technology in the Classroom; Teams work on Group Presentations
Friday9:00 AM - 12:00 PMTeam presentations