Fostering Active Learning in Statistics: Research on Students and Graduate Teaching Assistants

该项目将满足(I)整个美国公民更好地了解统计的使用和应用，以便做出明智的决策，以及(Ii)提高大学毕业生进入科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)领域劳动力的质量和数量，并有能力应用统计来促进知识和信息的能力，以帮助国家配备一支多样化的、具有全球竞争力的STEM劳动力的国家需求。最近，关于本科生统计学的教与学已经有了很大的了解，统计教育中的建议之一是在课堂上培养主动学习。在这方面，调查员将：(A)编写材料，促进本科生在统计学入门课程中积极和持久地学习；(B)培训统计学研究生教学助理(GTA)，了解有效执行这些材料所需的内容和教学问题；(C)开展研究，以了解和改进所编制材料和研究生培训的有效性。该项目的目标是制作和传播一本以研究为基础的学生手册和教师指南，以及培训GTA以促进积极学习体验所需的相关材料。该项目的另一个成果将是对全球助教专业发展需求的研究机构的补充，以便在本科生课堂上成功地实施主动学习经验。2010年，美国本科生统计入门人数超过50万人，比前十年增长了65%以上，其中许多课程是由GTA教授的。因此，对GTA培训的相关研究势在必行。将对以下研究问题进行调查。(1)主动学习实验室在多大程度上促进了更高水平的认知学习结果、对统计学的态度，以及成功完成统计学入门课程？(2)GTA在统计学方面需要哪些内容和教学知识来促进主动学习实验室，他们的知识如何因促进主动学习而发生变化？这些问题将使用混合方法、重复测量和分层模型来解决。该项目产生的材料将可移植到其他机构，附带的研究将向这些机构提供信息；然而，专业发展研究产生的信息不仅适用于有GTA的机构，而且也适用于教授本科生统计学入门课程的任何高等教育机构。

This project will address the established and growing national need (i) for United States citizenry as a whole to develop a better understanding of uses and applications of statistics in order to make informed decisions and (ii) to improve quality and increase quantity of college graduates to enter the workforce in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) areas with the ability to apply statistics to advance knowledge and information to help keep the Nation equipped with a diverse, globally competitive STEM workforce. Recently, much has been learned about the teaching and learning of undergraduate statistics, and one of the recommendations in statistics education is to foster active learning in the classroom. In connection with this, the investigators will: (a) produce materials to foster active and lasting learning for undergraduate students in introductory statistics courses; (b) train statistics graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) in the content and pedagogical issues needed to implement these materials effectively; and (c) conduct research to understand and generate improvements regarding the effectiveness of the developed materials and the graduate student training. The goals of this project are to produce and disseminate a research-based student manual and instructor's guide along with the associated materials necessary to train GTAs to facilitate active learning experiences. Another outcome of the project will be an addition to the body of research on the professional development needs of GTAs to implement successfully active-learning experiences in undergraduate classrooms. In 2010, over 500,000 students were enrolled in introductory statistics at the undergraduate level in the U.S., an increase of over 65% over the previous decade, and many of these courses are taught by GTAs. So research related to GTA training is imperative. The following research questions will be investigated. (1) To what extent do the active learning labs result in higher levels cognitive learning outcomes, attitudes toward statistics, and successful completion of introductory statistics course? (2) What is the content and pedagogical knowledge needed by GTAs in statistics to facilitate active learning labs and how does their knowledge change as a result of facilitating active learning? The questions will be addressed using mixed methods, repeated measures, and hierarchal models. Materials generated from the project will be portable to other institutions, and the accompanying research will inform these institutions; whereas, information generated from the research on professional development not only will apply to institutions with GTAs, but will also be pertinent to any higher education institution where introductory undergraduate statistics is taught.