Abstract
Dissatisfaction with teaching a high enrollment introductory statistics course led to efforts to restructure the course to remedy the perceived problems, including lack of student participation, an excessive drain on departmental resources, failure to take into account wide differences in student learning styles, an inability of students to apply statistics after the course, and negative attitudes of students. A cost-effective redesign of the course was implemented that incorporates a learning environment that is student-oriented, involves active student participation and hands-on experience with data analysis, uses technology to reduce costs through labor-saving techniques including low-stakes computerized testing, and sharing of resources enabled by a web site for course management and delivery of course materials. Responsibility for learning basic concepts was transferred to students and motivated by readiness assessment quizzes. The redesign led to about $125,000 in cost savings to the department.
Highlights
At the main Penn State University campus, the basic elementary statistics course is taught in the fall, spring, and summer semesters with an annual enrollment exceeding 2,000 students
We looked at technologies and assumed that (a) computer labs dedicated to instructional use would be available, (b) statistical software would be available online in the labs, and (c) instructors and students can communicate synchronously and asynchronously
Students are told at the beginning of the course that a major portion of responsibility for attaining the course goals is being assigned to them, that is, they are expected to learn many of the concepts on their own through assigned reading and studying, and that they will be motivated to do so through frequent Individual and Group Readiness Quizzes. They are told that (a) lectures will be given in the large group meeting (LGM) on days when there are no Readiness Assessment Quizzes (RAQs), (b) in the computer labs they will be working on 'activities' in pairs or small groups to apply what was learned in the readings, (c) lab quizzes consisting of 5-8 questions will be given in 15-20 of these labs
Summary
At the main Penn State University campus, the basic elementary statistics course is taught in the fall, spring, and summer semesters with an annual enrollment exceeding 2,000 students. An additional 400 students take statistics each year at the university's twenty other campuses It is a pre-calculus, introductory survey course with students primarily from the social and behavioral sciences. It was redesigned and implemented in the fall semester, 2000. GTAs held office hours and graded exams This structure (which is the norm at most large universities) was labor-intensive, requiring a substantial amount of faculty and GTA time per semester, and it created resource problems for the department. GTAs working with a particular instructor had only two or three office hours for students within their own recitation section, limiting accessibility of students for individual attention overall
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