Authentic, Career-Based, Discovery Learning Projects in Introductory Statistics

这一倡议的目的是提高学生在高中或大学学习第一门统计学课程的成绩，并改变学生的态度。该项目使用统计学学习模型，该模型表明，针对职业的发现学习将提高学生的成果。正在编制补充材料，以简化课堂上对该模式的实施。其中包括帮助设计发现学习项目的教师指南和特定专业入门级问题的工作手册。项目目标包括：(1)开发模型；(2)开发补充材料；(3)评估试点测试结果；(4)传播结果和材料。项目材料和评价工具是先编制的，然后在试点前试验中加以验证。接下来，在整个试点阶段使用治疗与对照设计来测试模型，试点地点包括两年制大学，高中和四年制大学。传播包括期刊文章、专业会议上的几次演讲和两次大型研讨会。该项目的更广泛影响是提高统计学的学习成果和对统计学的态度。课程设计将真实的、基于统计的调查与具体的职业兴趣联系起来，并促进数学概念的转移。一般来说，这些学生不是大学理科专业的学生，但他们需要并使用统计学，其中包括许多高中生。该计划促进了数学系与其他院系之间的合作，尤其是社会和行为科学、商业、教育和健康科学院系之间的合作。

Mathematical Sciences (21) This initiative is working to improve achievement and to change attitudes for students who take a first statistics course in either high school or college. The project uses a model for learning in statistics which suggests that career-specific discovery learning will enhance outcomes for students. Supplementary materials are being developed to streamline classroom implementation of the model. These include a faculty guidebook to help design discovery-learning projects and a workbook of introductory level problems from specific majors. Project objectives include: (1) development of the model, (2) development of the supplementary materials, (3) evaluation of pilot test results, and (4) dissemination of results and materials. The project materials and the evaluation instruments are being developed first and then they are being validated in a pre-pilot test. Next, a treatment vs. control design is utilized during the full pilot phase to test the model, with pilot sites including a two-year college, a high school, and four-year college classes. Dissemination includes journal article(s), several presentations at professional meetings, and two large-scale workshops.The broader impact of this project enhances learning outcomes in and attitudes toward statistics. The course design connects authentic, statistics-based inquiry to specific career interests and facilitates transference of mathematics concepts. The students are not, in general, science majors in college, but they need and use statistics and include many high school students. The initiative fosters collaboration between mathematics and other departments, especially those in the social and behavioral sciences, business, education and health sciences.