Monthly Archives: January 2015

Emphasizing the entire research process throughout the curriculum: The next step in real data integration in introductory statistics courses

Nathan Tintle – Dordt College

ntintle

In 2005, the Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education made six recommendations about how we should teach introductory statistics. One of these recommendations is to use real data. The report goes on to argue that real data, as opposed to merely realistic (made-up for a hypothetical context) or naked (no context provided) data, is preferred. I argue that we should go a step further by emphasizing the entire statistical research process throughout the curriculum. [pullquote]To ensure our students leave our courses recognizing the indispensable nature of statistics in science and society we must force ourselves to get out of the box and embrace teaching the entire research context by utilizing real data that matters. [/pullquote] Continue reading