Two Learning Activities for a Large Introductory Statistics Class

Some Class-Participation Demonstrations for Introductory Probability and Statistics

Most statistics courses at the college (or high school) level, whether conducted in departments of statistics, mathematics, psychology, or elsewhere, are taken as a requirement by students who, unfortunately, often have little interest in the subject. There are several excellent textbooks at this level, and lecture time is often used to present examples--including realistic applications of stat...

Introductory Remarks on Large Deviation Statistics

The physical concept of entropy as it is used in thermodynamics is related to the mathematical formulation of a Shannon entropy. Usually only the Shannon entropy of equilibrium distributions such as a canonical distribution is considered. Large deviations statistics goes beyond that framework. Entropies are considered for arbitrary distributions or physical states, and they describe, e.g., \how...

Introductory statistics

Learn before Lecture: A Strategy That Improves Learning Outcomes in a Large Introductory Biology Class

Actively engaging students in lecture has been shown to increase learning gains. To create time for active learning without displacing content we used two strategies for introducing material before class in a large introductory biology course. Four to five slides from 2007/8 were removed from each of three lectures in 2009 and the information introduced in preclass worksheets or narrated PowerP...

Design Experiential Learning Activities for MIS Introductory Courses

Experiential learning activities (ELAs) that are industry-partnered and real-world problem-based can provide undergraduate students with concrete experiences of using information technologies in the field. Flow theory provides a theoretical basis to guide the design of ELAs, ensuring that the goals are clear, feedback is explicit, and the challenges and skills are balanced. Based on this theory...