Simple interventions to assist students to engage with the language of data science and statistics

Abstract

AbstractThe focus of this paper is learning the language of data science and statistics through the use of simple classroom activities. Many terms in statistics are known to be lexically ambiguous, having one meaning in general English conversation and another, more technical, meaning in statistical English. The main aim is to investigate whether the classroom‐ready interventions proposed are perceived by students to be fun and helpful. A secondary aim is to measure students' ability to correctly define lexically ambiguous words at the start and end of the semester, and seek evidence of an association between the interventions and lexical disambiguation. Three types of interventions are studied: crosswords, gap‐fill exercises and a sorting exercise. The results from student evaluations of the activities show that, in general, students found the activities helpful and fun. There was also some moderate evidence of an improvement in disambiguation for statistical terms including significant, control and relationship.