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

该项目将满足既定的和日益增长的国家需求：(1)美国公民作为一个整体，更好地了解统计的使用和应用，以便做出明智的决定；(2)提高大学毕业生的质量和数量，使其进入科学、技术、工程、科学等领域的劳动力市场。数学（STEM）领域，能够应用统计学来推进知识和信息，帮助国家拥有一支多样化的、具有全球竞争力的STEM劳动力队伍。近年来，关于本科统计学的教与学的研究越来越多，统计学教育的建议之一是促进课堂上的主动学习。在这方面，调查人员将：(a)编写材料，促进本科学生在统计学入门课程中积极和持久地学习；(b)在有效执行这些材料所需的内容和教学问题方面培训统计学研究生助教；(c)开展研究，了解并改进已开发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份以研究为基础的学生手册和教师指南，以及培训gta以促进积极学习经验所需的相关材料。该项目的另一项成果将是对gta在本科课堂成功实施主动学习体验的专业发展需求的研究进行补充。2010年，美国有超过50万名学生在本科阶段学习统计学入门课程，比过去十年增长了65%以上，其中许多课程由gta教授。因此，与GTA训练相关的研究势在必行。以下的研究问题将被调查。(1)主动学习实验在多大程度上导致更高水平的认知学习成果、对统计学的态度和统计学入门课程的成功完成？(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、重复测量和层次模型来解决。项目所产生的资料将可供其他机构使用，而相关的研究也将为这些机构提供参考；而由专业发展研究所得的资料，不仅适用于设有专业发展助教的院校，也适用于任何开设本科统计入门课程的高等教育机构。

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.