Finding Internet Resources for Teaching Statistics

Using CAUSEweb

Ginger Holmes Rowell, Ph. D.Middle Tennessee State University

Roundtable Luncheon August 7, 2006; 12:30 – 1:50 pm2006 Joint Statistical Meetings

Seattle, Washington

• Overview of CAUSEweb.– Resources. – Professional Development.– Research.

• Searching and finding resources in CAUSEweb.

• Integrating materials into lessons.– Individually. – In the learning cycle.

• Handouts.

Agenda

Overview of CAUSEweb

CAUSE

CAUSE Partners with MERLOT

Roger Woodard - CAUSEweb Editor & Editor of the MERLOT Statistics Editorial Board

www.CAUSEweb.org

www.CAUSEweb.org

Digital Library for

Undergraduate Statistics Education

Two Facets: Peer-reviewed & “On-the-Web”

www.CAUSEweb.org

www.CAUSEweb.org

• CAUSEway Workshops.• US Conference On Teaching Statistics.

– USCOTS.• Webinars.• Future opportunities.

– Keep checking this website.

www.CAUSEweb.org

www.CAUSEweb.org

• Maintain and update Research web pages for CAUSEweb.

• Organize research sessions for USCOTS.

• Organize research workshops for CAUSE grants.

• Provide a list of resource people to contact for advice or mentoring regarding research in statistics education.

• Create ways to improve linkages across disciplines and develop collaborative projects, such as a research forum that brings together researchers from across the disciplines.

• Initiate projects that will help connect research to teaching practice.

• Serve as an advisory board for other research projects.

Searching and Finding Resources in CAUSEweb

• Ways to Search CAUSEweb.org:

– Regular search.

– Advanced search.

– Browse Categories.

– Statistical Topic.

CAUSEweb: Regular Search

Example: Central Limit Theorem.Type what your looking for here.

Get results here.

CAUSEweb: Regular Search

• This feature searches on:– Description.– Title.– Author.– URL.– Key Words.– Statistical Topic.

CAUSEweb: Regular Search

• This feature also searches on:– Application Area – the discipline for which

the resource is intended.

– Resource Type – what the resource is.

– Object Format – the technical format of the resource.

Searching:Application Areas

• Agriculture• Art and Music• Astronomy• Biology• Business• Chemistry• Computer

Science• Engineering• Geology

• Health Science• Humanities• Mathematics• Physics• Political Science• Psychology• Sociology• Sports and

Games

Searching: Resource Type

• Animation• Case Study• Collection• Dataset• Drill and Practice• Event• Image• Interactive Resource• Lecture/Presentation• Physical Object

• Quiz/Test• Reference Materials• Service• Simulation• Software• Sound• Text• Tutorial• Webpage

Searching: Object Format

• A few examples of Object Format.– Audio– Flash– HTML– Java Applet– JavaScript– PDF– Video– Other

CAUSEweb: Advanced Search

CAUSEweb: Browse Categories

• Lecture Examples• Laboratories• Out-of-class• Teaching

Methods• Datasets• Analysis Tools• Curriculum• Fun• Building Blocks• Multimedia• Forum

CAUSEweb: Statistical Topic

http://www.causeweb.org/resources

Recognizing What You’re Looking For

The Results Page

Title links to full record.

Description provides detailed information.

URL links directly to the resource.

Recognizing What You’re Looking For

The Full Record

Title and URL link directly to resource.

Other links go to results page for resources with the same label.

Integrating Materials into Lessons: Individual Resources

• Examples:– Case Study.– Applet.– Collection.

• Teacher’s Viewpoint.

Case Study Example

Case Study + Case Teaching Notes

= a “ready-to-go” classroom lesson

Teacher’s Viewpoint:

http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/projects/cases/markov/markov.html

Searching for “Related” Items

Related (or companion) items are identified

Applet Example

Statistical Java

Teacher’s Viewpoint:

• Demonstration during a lecture• Use “as is” in a computer lab• Assign some corresponding reading in addition to the applet• Make supplementary worksheet

http://kitchen.stat.vt.edu/~sundar/java/applets/CLT.html

Central LimitTheorem

Collections

Rice Virtual Lab in Statistics

http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~lane/rvls.html

http://kitchen.stat.vt.edu/~sundar/java/applets/

http://illuminations.nctm.org/

http://www.math.uah.edu/stat/

Virtual Laboratories in Probability and Statistics

Collection Example: Star Library

http://www.causeweb.org/repository/StarLibrary/activities/

Collection Example: WISETeacher’s Viewpoint: “It’s all right here.”

http://wise.cgu.edu/

Integrating Materials into Lessons: The Learning Cycle

Explore

Assess

Lecture

∆ Data Sets∆ Case Studies∆ Guided Demos∆ Simulations∆ Laboratories∆ Applets∆ Tutorials

∆ Teacher-directed Assessments◊ Laboratories◊ Homework Problems

∆ PowerPoint Slides∆ Reference Materials∆ History∆ Demonstrations:

◊ Applets◊ Videos◊ Simulations

∆ Self-directed Assessments◊ Immediate Feedback

A Time Series Example

Explore

Assess

Lecture

A teacher could show this video in class or have students watch the video as an out-of-class assignment.

This java applet can strengthen students’

understanding of time series by

allowing them to move or add data

points.

Teachers can select from a number of topics and choose from over 70 questions (and answers) for linear regression alone.

Time Series Example: Lecture

http://www.learner.org/resources/series65.html

29 min. video

Time Series Example: Explore

http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/dl/free/0072868244/124727/LinearTE.html

Data can be added.

Points can be moved.

Time Series Example: Assess

Choose a category.

Over 70 questions on Regression alone.

http://www2.gsu.edu/~dscbms/ibs/qcontent.html

Environmental Engineering Example

A single course website addressing the entire

learning cycle.

http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Civil-and-Environmental-Engineering/1-017Computing-and-Data-Analysis-for-Environmental-ApplicationsFall2003/CourseHome/index.htm

Environmental Engineering Example

Explore

Assess

Lecture

23 separate lectures as PDF files. Most are 3-5 pages long.

MATLAB exercises.

Problem sets with solutions.

Practice quizzes and exams with solutions.

A Power Example

Explore

Assess

Lecture

The Environmental Protection Agency

describes the importance of analyzing the

power of a test.

This STAR Library entry describes a classroom activity that helps students understand the concept of power and how it relates to sample size.

HyperStat has some exercises that ask about topics related to power.

A Power Example: Lecture

http://www.epa.gov/bioindicators/statprimer/power.html

A Power Example: Explore

http://www.causeweb.org/repository/StarLibrary/activities/blankenship_young2001

A Power Example: Assess

http://davidmlane.com/hyperstat/power.html