Teaching Statistics in High School

This is a Web-based, technology-intensive short course developed jointly by the U of I Departments of Statistics and Curriculum & Instruction. The topics to be covered will include: descriptive statistics (central tendency and variation); expectation; probability; regression and data collection.
Both the content of statistics and effective instructional strategies will be dealt with--reflecting the NCTM Standards for curriculum and for teaching. This module is composed of the following five units:

Unit 1: Exploring Data: Tables and Graphs
Unit 2: Summarizing Data: Centers and Spreads
Unit 3: Linear Relationships: Regression and Correlation
Unit 4: Probability and Expected Value
Unit 5: Probability Distributions and Random Sampling

Participants will complete one unit at a time, but must complete all five units to earn credit for the module.
Credit: 4 grad. sem. hrs. or 12 CEUs.

Teaching Statistics in the High School was written by Ken Travers and Jeremy Bartusch, it was revised in 2002 by Amy Trefzger of the University of Illinois Department of Statistics.

Detailed Description

This the first module of a networked-based two module course in the basic ideas of probability and statistics. The module is intended to provide the necessary background for teachers of high school statistics. Module I deals with introductory concepts: descriptive statistics (central tendency and variation), linear regression (and correlation), expected value, probability and data collection.

These modules are closely linked to the textbook, Statistics: The Craft of Data Collection, Description, and Inference (Monrad, Stout, and Harner, Moebius Publications, 2002, 3rd edition). The general pattern for taking the module will consist of reading the book in hard copy and doing exercises from the book, using Excel and the graphing calculator supplement to the book. Exercises and other activities will be conducted in electronic format (spreadsheet, word processor, calculators, etc.) and submitted to the instructor via the Internet.

More details on each individual unit are given below:

Interactive Statistics -- Unit 1 Introduction
In this first unit, participants will be exposed to the World Wide Web as a resource for statistics instruction. Participants will learn how to use the web as a resource by exploring various statistics internet sites. Then ways of exploring data using tables and graphs will be introduced.

Interactive Statistics -- Unit 2 Introduction
In this second unit, participants will be introduced to centers of data (mean, median, and mode), ways of measuring spread, the normal distribution, and boxplots.

Interactive Statistics -- Unit 3 Introduction
Unit 3 deals with linear relationships in data by studying scatterplots, correlation, regression, and the question of causation.

Interactive Statistics -- Unit 4 Introduction
Unit 4 will elaborate on the previous three units as well as introduce a few new topics. New topics of Unit 4 are experimental probability, probability models, simulation, box models, and random sampling, and expected value.

Interactive Statistics -- Unit 5 Introduction
Unit 5 first focuses on learning about probability distributions--specifically the Binomial, Geometric, Poisson, and Normal distributions. Then issues of sampling and experimental design are discussed.

Required Materials

In addition to the general requirements for participating in Math Teacher Link, this module also has the following requirements:

Microsoft Excel 5.0 or Higher
Microsoft provides academic discounts on their software. You can check the academic pricing by clicking on this link. The price for Excel is around $129 for the PC or the Mac. To find out where you can then purchase the product in your area, click on this link and follow the on screen directions. You might also want to check with the Technology Coordinator in your school district for possible special pricing. For example, in Illinois, with some additional red tape teachers can buy products through a special pricing that ISBE has negotiated with Microsoft. Office 2000 Pro, which then includes Excel, Word, Access, Outlook, and PowerPoint can be purchased for approximately $75 ($50 for the license and $25 for the CD used to install it ). Clicking on this link will take you to the Illinois ISBE - Microsoft Select Pricing site for details. Prior to ordering we recommend making a phone call to the location indicated in their website, to make sure you are ordering the correct license and CD for Office Pro 2000.

Statistics Course Text and Calculator Supplement
Each participant in the Statistics Module will need to send away for the textbook Statistics: The Craft of Data Collection, Description, and Inference (Monrad, Stout, and Harner, Moebius Publications, 2002, 3rd edition), and its calculator supplement. You can purchase the textbook online from a number of vendors by searching for its ISBN number of 1891304917 .

TI-83 or TI-89 Calculator
These calculators can be purchased at almost every electronics store. Teachers in the United States and Canada can also receive volume discounts by calling 1-800-TI-CARES.

TI-Graph Link
If you follow this link to the Texas Instruments page, you will find at the bottom of the page, the links to download the software that is specific to the platform you are running. If you are unfamiliar with TI-Graph Link, we suggest reading through their guidebooks. If you do not have the connection cables already, you will need to order them from TI or purchase them yourself. Stores like Staples and WalMart often carry the TI-Graph Link cable and software.

Step By Step

We estimate that the work that you will do for each unit in this module will take about 16 hours to complete. You can do the work at school or at home, and you can fit it into your schedule however you see fit. We recommend that you set aside some time, about ten hours each week, to work on the module. This should enable you to finish each unit within 2 weeks from the time that you start.

If you are familiar with unzipping files, download the statistics.zip file below. To download all of the files associated with the module at one time.
You also have the option of downloading the individual files associated with each step, as they are needed, by clicking on the file names found beneath each individual step.

Attachment	Size
statistics.zip	32.93 KB

Step #1

Overview of the MSTE web site.

The first task in this unit is to browse through the Office for Mathematics, Science, and Technology Education Web Site (http://www.mste.uiuc.edu). The Office for Mathematics, Science, and Technology Education (MSTE) is the department at the University of Illinois that created the Statistics Module. The MSTE site contains a variety of information and is an excellent resource for educators at any level. Take this time to become familiar with the MSTE site. It is a wonderful source that you can use throughout this module and later in your classroom.

Step #2

Overview of MSTE Data Archives and the Statistics Websites.

This section will give participants a better feel for what statistics information is available on the web. Participants should start by looking at the MSTE Data Archives . These are data sets that are available for you to use in your classroom.

Then take some time to look at the interactive statistics assignments available on the MSTE website. Notice that in addition to statistics lessons, there are also lessons for other math and science classes. Work through some of the statistics lessons on the MSTE site. You should get a good feel for the assignments because you will be asked about the examples you looked at in the next section.

Step #3

NCTM Standards on Line.

As a mathematics educator, this section will familiarize participants as to what the NCTM standards say regarding statistics and probability instruction at various grade levels. The NCTM Standards are broken down into different grade levels. Those levels are Pre-K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12. You should choose your targeted grade level and read the standards for that grade level with respect to statistics and probability instruction.

Step #4

Comparing the MSTE lessons to the Standards.

After reading the standards, you will compare the NCTM Standards' suggestions to the sample assignments you looked at in the MSTE archives. Your assignment is to complete a write up comparing three lessons you looked at in the archives to the Standards. You should address the following questions:

Does the lesson comply with the standards? How so? How not?
How could the lesson be improved to better comply with the standards?

Be very detailed with your answers to these questions.

Now open the file Unit1.html in Microsoft Word, and paste your answers to the above questions in the space provided. The file is created as an html file, so that all versions of Word will be able to read it, but we want you to work on assignments and save them in Microsoft Word.

Attachment	Size
Unit1.html	83.23 KB

Step #5

Introduction to Excel

Since a large majority of the prepared lessons for the Statistics Module involve using Microsoft Excel, you should take the time to work throught the following online Overview of Excel 5.0 .

Step #6

Chapter 1 exercises

Read chapter 1 and complete the exercises in the file Unit1.html in Word. Whenever we ask you a question, you can simply cut out our (Insert your answer here) and type in your answer. If the problem involves using your graphing calculator, you need to download screenshots of what you did using the GraphLink and place them into the Word documents.

Attachment	Size
Unit1.html	83.23 KB

Step #7

Chapter 1 Teaching Unit

At the end of each assignment, you will need to develop a teaching unit using the learned material in the chapter(s) covered. For this, use a separate Word document and hand it in to the Module Working Environment of Math Teacher Link at http://cm.math.uiuc.edu/classcomm after your other file. Each teaching unit you submit should be 1-3 pages in length. The actual format doesn't matter, so you can use your school's format or something more informal. The idea is to create a lesson or unit where your students are actively learning statistics topics using both computers and calculators. The amount of classroom time it will take depends on the activity or activities you decide on. Some people develop an activity that incorporates all of the material from a chapter, while others choose one section to focus on. The lessons on the MSTE website are a good place to get ideas.

Complete your teaching unit for Unit 1, and turn in the completed Unit 1 assignment and your teaching unit in the Module Working Environment of Math Teacher Link at http://cm.math.uiuc.edu/classcomm using your MTL login and password. You are finished with Unit 1 of the Statistics Module!

Step #8

Unit 2 assignment.

Read chapter 2 and complete the exercises and teaching unit for Unit 2 in Word. Turn in these files in the Handin link at left. You are finished with Unit 2 of the Statistics Module!

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Unit2.html	38.6 KB

Step #9

Unit 3 assignment

Read chapter 3 and complete the exercises and teaching unit for Unit 3. Turn in the files, and you are finished with Unit 3 of the Statistics Module!

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Unit3.html	89.43 KB

Step #10

Unit 4 assignment.

Read chapters 4 and 5, and complete the exercises and teaching unit for Unit 4. Turn in the files, and you are finished with Unit 4 of the Statistics Module!

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Unit4.html	62.45 KB

Step #11

Unit 5 assignment.

Read chapters 6 and 7, and complete the exercises and teaching unit for Unit 5. Turn in the files to the Module Working Environment.

That's it. You are finished with Module 6! Congratulations!!

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Unit5.html	30.55 KB