Statistics Teacher

Supporting the Teaching and Learning of Statistics

9-12+

Developing Authentic Assessments

Developing authentic formative and summative assessments is challenging, so this column will focus on suggestions for lesson-specific assessments to overarching frameworks. The Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education (GAISE) Report: A Pre-K–12 Curriculum Framework, published in 2007, remains an important resource for developing authentic … [Read more...] about Developing Authentic Assessments

Technology Insights

By Rebecca Nichols and Donna LaLonde One of the Standards for Mathematical Practice calls on students to “Use appropriate tools strategically.” In part, this practice viewed through a statistical lens is described in the Statistical Education of Teachers (SET) report as, “Statistically proficient students at various grade levels are able to use technological tools to carry … [Read more...] about Technology Insights

When Losing Is Winning: An Exploratory Analysis of Data from The Biggest Loser

By Mary Richardson and Daniel Adrian Students should be exposed to current and interesting data sets. Most, if not all, will have at least some familiarity with The Biggest Loser television show. Portions of the following discussion have been adapted from Wikipedia, visited on July 2, 2016. The Biggest Loser is an American reality TV show that debuted on NBC on … [Read more...] about When Losing Is Winning: An Exploratory Analysis of Data from The Biggest Loser

Sharing a Birthday: Technology-Supported Investigations in Middle School

By Dusty Jones My daughters Rosalie and Lucy share a birthday, but they are not twins. Rosalie is two years older than Lucy. Most people find this surprising, but my uncle Bruce and his son Jesse also share a birthday. Actually, according to Facebook, I have a few friends who share my birthday. Although it is clearly possible for two people to share a birthday, our … [Read more...] about Sharing a Birthday: Technology-Supported Investigations in Middle School

Lesson Plan: EllipSeeIt—Visualizing Strength and Direction of Correlation

By Miguel Olvera and Rafael Diaz (Grades 6–12+) Originally published in February 2017, this lesson focuses on correlation as a way of measuring the strength and direction of a linear association between two numerical variables. After reviewing concepts of bivariate data sets, their graphical representations through scatterplots, and the meaning of a linear association, … [Read more...] about Lesson Plan: EllipSeeIt—Visualizing Strength and Direction of Correlation

Lesson Plan: Odd or Even? The Addition and Complement Principles of Probability

By Wendy Weber, Carrie Even, and Susannah Weaver (Grades 9-12+) Originally published November 2015, this lesson engages students in an exploration activity and a class discussion. After completing this lesson, students will be able to determine when events are mutually exclusive, and then use the Addition Principle to calculate the probability of mutually exclusive and … [Read more...] about Lesson Plan: Odd or Even? The Addition and Complement Principles of Probability

Why 0.05? Two Examples That Put Students in the Role of Decision-Maker

By Leah Dorazio Any teacher of introductory statistics has heard this question more times than they can remember: “Why 0.05?” Here, the value 0.05 refers to the significance level in a hypothesis test. A nice overview of hypothesis tests is described in the Fall/Winter 2015 issue of STN. In this article, I provide a brief review of the concepts of hypothesis test and … [Read more...] about Why 0.05? Two Examples That Put Students in the Role of Decision-Maker

Lesson Plan: You Will Soon Analyze Categorical Data (Classifying Fortune Cookie Fortunes)

By Mary Richardson (Grades 9-12+) Originally published in May 2014, students will have the opportunity to collect and explore real data using two brands of fortune cookies. Students will open each brand of fortune cookie and classify their fortunes into one of four categories. Students will then construct a two-way frequency table to display their data and investigate their … [Read more...] about Lesson Plan: You Will Soon Analyze Categorical Data (Classifying Fortune Cookie Fortunes)

Lesson Plan: What Fits?

By Anna Bargagliotti and Stephanie Casey (Grades 6-12+) Originally published in February 2013, this activity has students explore what a line of best fit is and where a line of best fit should be placed on a scatterplot of data with a linear association. This is done through students’ completion of an activity investigating the relationship between the drop height of a golf … [Read more...] about Lesson Plan: What Fits?