Passion-Driven Statistics: A multidisciplinary project-based supportive model for statistical reasoning and application

这个项目团队是在TUES Type1奖项的基础上发展起来的，该奖项为一个基于项目的课程创建了新的学习材料，该课程为大量学生提供了更多的入门统计数据，主要是非STEM密集型专业的学生。该方法的特点是培训知识的灵活应用，有机会在现实世界的背景下分析数据，并通过计算教育统计概念。在第二类工作中，首席调查人员(PI)正在调整和微调当前的材料，以增加灵活性和无缝程度，以便它们可以在广泛的机构环境中使用，并且很容易修改，以满足具有不同准备水平、学习方式和兴趣的学生的需求。该项目的学术价值在于，它侧重于满足传统STEM学科以外的学生的需求，即拥有概念和分析工具，以应对其研究领域的“大数据”应用。此外，最初的课程材料已由9名不同的教师和350名学生试行。学生的短期和长期学习收益也在向大学过渡和毕业后两个层面进行评估。私人投资机构正从两个层面寻求其努力的更广泛影响：第一，通过实施和评估其基于项目的学习模式，在五个合作机构，包括大学、社区学院，并在少数情况下，在中学环境中；第二，通过为来自不同学科背景的新教师举办暑期讲习班，为使用这种基于项目的模式授课做好准备。

This project team is building on the results of a TUES Type 1 award that created new learning materials for a project-based course that provides greater access to introductory statistics for large numbers of students primarily not in STEM-intensive majors. The approach features training in flexible application of knowledge, opportunities to analyze data in real world contexts, and education about statistical concepts through computing. In this Type 2 effort the principal investigators (PIs) are adapting and fine-tuning the current materials to add flexibility and seamlessness so that they are usable across a wide array of institutional settings and easily modified to meet the needs of students with different levels of preparation, learning styles, and interest. The intellectual merit of the project lies in its focus on the need of students outside of traditional STEM disciplines to have conceptual and analytical tools at their disposal to grapple with "big data" applications in their fields of inquiry. Moreover, the initial course materials have been piloted by nine different instructors and 350 students. Short-term and long-term learning gains for students are also being assessed at both the transition to college and post-graduation levels. The PIs are pursuing the broader impact of their efforts along two dimensions: first, by implementing and assessing their project-based model for learning in five partner institutions including universities, community colleges, and in a small number of cases, secondary school settings; and second, by conducting summer workshops for new faculty from varied disciplinary backgrounds to become prepared to teach using this project-based model.