On the Road to a Statistics Digital Library . . .
Finding the Right Web-
Materials to Use in Your Class
Beyond the Formula
July 24, 2003
Ginger Holmes Rowell, Ph. D.
Middle Tennessee State University
1

Outline
Today’s Technologies for Teaching Statistics
Finding the Right Materials z
Large Collections of On-line Interactive Materials for
Teaching Introductory Statistics z z z
Data Sources
More Links
Existing Virtual (Digital) Libraries
2

Outline Continued
Qualities that Make Materials Effective for
Student Learning
Assessment of Technology in Teaching and
Learning
Your Application
Looking into the Future z z
Statistics Education Digital Library
Your Feedback z
Your Input
3

Today’s Technologies for Teaching Statistics
Statistical Calculators
Analytical Software
Conceptual Software
MultimediaTextbooks
Internet Applications z
Applets z
Tutorials z
Lesson Plans
4

Issues to Consider
Limited Time for z
Finding & Evaluating z
Selecting & Assessing
Amount of Information on the Internet can be Overwhelming.
Now what was that URL???
5

Traditional Web Searches
Search Engines z
Google z
Yahoo z
Alta Vista www.google.com
www.yahoo.com
www.altavista.com
z
...
“Sponsored Matches”
Advanced Searches
Searching the Search Engines z
Copernic www.copernic.com
6

Large Statistics Projects:
“Collections” http://illuminations.nctm.org/index2.html
Virtual Laboratories in
Probability and Statistics http://www.math.uah.edu/stat/
Rice Virtual Lab in Statistics http://kitchen.stat.vt.edu/~sundar/java/applets/ http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~lane/rvls.html
7

Collections Continued
On-line Interactive Materials for Teaching
Introductory Statistics z
Statistics Lessons z http://core.ecu.edu/psyc/wuenschk/StatsLessons.htm
z z
Stat Library at Carnegie Mellon z http://lib.stat.cmu.edu/
Shodor z http://www.shodor.org/interactivate/ z http://www.shodor.org/interactivate/activities/index.html#pro
8

Collections Continued
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign z z
Statistical Programs for the TI-82/83/83+/73 z http://www.mste.uiuc.edu/statmod/
Stats lessons for the TI 92 z http://www.mste.uiuc.edu/povich/ti92/ http://www.starlibrary.net/
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Sources for Data
Dr. B's Wide World of Web Data z http://research.ed.asu.edu/msms/multimedia/DrB/Default.htm
DATA and Story Library (DASL) z http://lib.stat.cmu.edu/DASL/
FedStats z http://www.fedstats.gov
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Applets
Visualization of and Experimentation with STAtistical Concepts z http://www.kuleuven.ac.be/ucs/java/index.htm
Webster West’s Applets z http://www.stat.sc.edu/~west/javahtml/
Duke University - Stat Java Applet List z http://www.stat.duke.edu/sites/java.html
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Lists of Statistics Links
Web-oriented Teaching Resources in
Probability and Statistics z z
(Table of Links) http://www.hut.fi/Units/Departments/F/SAL/Teaching/Resources/ProbStat/t able.html http://www.hut.fi/Units/Departments/F/SAL/Teaching/Resources/Pr obStat/links.html
Juha Puranen z http://www.helsinki.fi/~jpuranen/links.html
Robin Lock z http://it.stlawu.edu/~rlock/tise98/onepage.html
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STATLIST http://www.mtsu.edu/~statlist/
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Existing Virtual Libraries
Digital Libraries : Tools for Organizing & Sharing http://www.merlot.org/Home.po
http://www.mathdl.org/ http://www.smete.org/
15

http://nsdl.org
Some Examples http://matti.usu.edu/nlvm/nav/vlibrary.html
http://mtn.merit.edu/index.html
http://www.enc.org/
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More Digital Library Examples
Science Applications http://serc.carleton.edu/research_education/usingdata/index.html
http://turing.bear.uncw.edu/iLumina/index.asp
http://mathforum.org/library/
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What about Statistics???
Statistics Library Collections
No collections were found under this topic.
Try a different Browse topic or use the library to search Statistics for related items.
Please continue checking back with NSDL - our collections grow every day.
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Not A Library of Materials for
Teaching Statistics
The World Wide Web Virtual Library: Statistics z
University of Florida’s Dept. of Statistics z http://www.stat.ufl.edu/vlib/statistics.html
z
Lists of Links z
Departments, Divisions, and Schools of Statistics (International) z
On-Line Educational Resources (7 links) z
Government Statistical Institutes z
Statistical Research Groups, Institutes, and Associations,
Journals, Software, and etc.
19

What if We Had a Statistics
Education Digital Library?
How are materials organized so you can find what you need, when you need it?
What materials belong in the library?
How are “best” materials selected and/or identified?
How do you define “best”?
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Qualities that Make Materials
Effective for Student Learning
Depends on your learning goal z
Drill and Practice z
Computational Efficiency z
Conceptual Understanding z
Problem Solving z
Application of Concepts z
…
21

Qualities for Effective Learning
(Continued)
Qualities of effective technology-based lessons z
Correct content !!!
z
Readable at appropriate grade level
22

Qualities for Effective Learning
(Continued)
Six components to consider for web-based curricular material quality assessment z
Technical z
Website z
Text z
Applet z
Instructional z
Mathematical/Statistical
Assessment Rubric by Ms. Leann Hooge, MTSU graduate student
23

Technical Quality Issues
Extra plug-ins needed?
Adequate transmission speed?
Registration required?
Usage fee charged?
Copyright restrictions?
24

Website Quality Issues
Visually appealing?
Obtrusive frills?
Advertisements? ( Too many? Inappropriate?)
Student evaluation options? (on-line quiz…)
Presented just like a text book?
25

Text Quality Issue
Is there text at all? (if needed)
Correct?
Clear?
Concise?
Complete?
26

Applet Quality Issues
Instructions? Explanations?
Self-paced?
Student controlled?
Opportunity for conjecture?
Lead to learning? Or just flashy?
Can students interpret results?
27

Instructional Quality Issues
Does teacher need to create a guide to facilitate learning?
Engaging?
Encourage higher level thinking?
Opportunities for z
Students to communicate?
z
Students to reflect?
z
Teacher to evaluate?
28

Statistical Quality Issues
Correct content?
Important content?
Promote conceptual understanding?
Real-world setting?
Applications?
29

Assessing - Technology
We Are Accustomed to Assessing Students
Is that Different from Assessing Technology?
30

Technology Assessment
Technology
Monad Approach
Dyadic Approach
Triadic Approach
Activity Outcome
Flashlight Project, The TLT Group, http://www.tltgroup.org/media/fl/Triad.htm
31

Technology Assessment
Resources (continued)
The TLT Group , Teaching, Learning, and
Technology http://www.tltgroup.org/
Flashlight Program
For the Study and Improvement of
Educational Uses of Technology http://www.tltgroup.org/programs/flashlight.html
32

Review Triad of
Technology Assessment
Desired Outcome
Selected Activity
Chosen Technology
How Well Did It Work?
Share Your Results
33

A Few Technology
Assessment Resources
Evaluating Science WWW resources z http://www.ncsu.edu/imse/3/evalweb.htm
Assessing Technology Tools http://www.nsba.org/sbot/toolkit/att.html
Assessing Technology Tools
34

Let’s Apply the Procedure
Think of a Desired Outcome for your students for learning statistics.
z
Examples: Students will be able to z
Match scatter plots with correlation coefficients z
Explain in words what a 95% confidence interval for a population average represents z
...
35

Apply the Procedure (Continued)
Next, Select an Activity to assist the student in learning the needed concept to achieve the Desired Outcome .
We are going to restrict our Technology
Choices to those on the Internet for this session. You would have other technologies
(calculators, manipulative, …) available in your classroom.
36

Let’s Apply the Procedure
In the classroom, you would be able to
Determine How Well the Activity Worked at helping the student achieve the desired outcome.
Share Your Results - not just in this session.
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Share Your Results
38

The Future
A Statistics Education Digital Library
39

CAUSE - Consortium for the Advancement of Undergraduate Statistics Education
CAUSEWeb z
NSF Grant Proposal for Statistics Education
Digital Library to be funded (10/03 - 9/05) z
Resources for teaching, outreach and professional development z www.causeweb.org (in the future)
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41

Your help is needed z z z z z z
Watch for CAUSEWeb to come “on-line”
Spread the word about CAUSEWeb to others
Submit materials for the “Reviewed” section
Submit links for the “On the Web” section
Submit ideas for statistical cartoons (this is needed now)
...
You can contact me at rowell@mtsu.edu
42

Your Feedback
How do you search?
What do you want?
???
43

Beyond the Formula, Rochester, NY
Panel Discussion, July 25, 2003
The Future: A Virtual Library of Statistical Teaching Tools
“Our Toolbox is Overflowing: Towards a Framework for
Mapping Technologies and Topics in Introductory Statistics ”
Ginger Holmes Rowell, Ph. D.
Middle Tennessee State University
Murfreesboro, Tennessee
1

Today’s Technology for Teaching Statistics
Analytical Software
Conceptual Software
Multimedia Textbooks
Internet Applications z
Applets z
Tutorials z
Lesson Plans
...
2

Issues to Consider
L imited T ime z
Finding & Evaluating z
Selecting & Assessing
Amount of Information on the Internet can be Overwhelming .
Now what was that URL???
3

Some Ideas to Help
Work Together/Don’t Reinvent the Wheel
Publicize Good Works
Let Others Know Assessment Results
(What works, what doesn’t)
Share, Share, Share z
Assessment Tools, Teaching Supplements to
Web Applets, ...
Organize
Make Accessible
4

Organization Tools
Digital Libraries : Tools for Organizing & Sharing http://www.merlot.org/Home.po
http://www.mathdl.org/ http://www.smete.org/
5

http://nsdl.org
Some Examples http://matti.usu.edu/nlvm/nav/vlibrary.html
http://mtn.merit.edu/index.html
http://www.enc.org/ 6

More Digital Library Examples
Science Applications http://serc.carleton.edu/research_education/usingdata/index.html
http://turing.bear.uncw.edu/iLumina/index.asp
http://mathforum.org/library/
7

What about Statistics???
Statistics Library Collections
No collections were found under this topic.
Try a different Browse topic or use the library to search Statistics for related items.
Please continue checking back with NSDL - our collections grow every day.
8

STATLIST http://www.mtsu.edu/~statlist/
9

10

The Future
A Statistics Education Digital Library
11

CAUSE - Consortium for the Advancement of Undergraduate Statistics Education
CAUSEWeb z
NSF Grant Proposal for Statistics Education
Digital Library to be funded (10/03 - 9/05) z
Resources for teaching, outreach and professional development z www.causeweb.org (in the future)
12

13

Your help is needed z
Watch for CAUSEWeb to come “on-line” z
Spread the word about CAUSEWeb to others z
Submit materials for the “Reviewed” section z
Submit links for the “On the Web” section z
Submit ideas for statistical cartoons (this is needed now) z
...
You can contact me at rowell@mtsu.edu
14