Age Guessing: A Game to Introduce Fundamental Statistical Concepts

Abstract

We develop a spreadsheet-based game to illustrate fundamental statistical concepts in the first class of an undergraduate Statistics course to motivate students about the topics that they will learn in upcoming classes. This game has been implemented by Google Forms and Google Sheets and can be played in both online and in-person classes of small and large sizes. Statistics is one of the most anxiety-inducing courses for undergraduate students, especially if mathematics is not the focus of their program. Negative anecdotes about the course, mathematics anxiety, and not knowing what the course is exactly about and how practical it can be are among the reasons that contribute to statistics anxiety. The first class provides a good opportunity for an instructor to mitigate these negative impressions and to set a positive attitude toward the course. A pre- and post-game group discussion that we have conducted systematically for six years suggests that the game addresses the students’ negative impression about the course and helps them gain a clearer understanding of the tools and skills they will learn in Statistics. Supplementary materials for this article are available online.