WEB SITE AND CONCEPT MAPS TO TEACH STATISTICS

WEB SITE AND CONCEPT MAPS TO TEACH STATISTICS Gloria Icaza, Carlos Bravo, Sergio Guiñez, Julio Muñoz Universidad de Talca, Chile Grant founded by Chilean Education Ministry TAL 0103

Outline • "Diversification of strategies for teaching and learning in basic sciences" Project – Statistics syllabus in University of Talca diagnosis – Project philosophy – Syllabus changes – Information Technology use – Web site description • Web site tour

Statistics classes before the project • 12 classes per semester (Biology, Economics, Engineer) • Up to 65 students per class • Limited access to computers and statistical software (25 PCs student lab) • Student financial limitations to buy textbooks

Statistics classes before the project • Syllabus consist of “math of statistics” (Ito, 2001). • Contents: descriptive statistics, probability, inference, and methods

Project philosophy • Emphasis on conceptual and data analysis oriented classes (Cobb, 1992) • Statistics as a tool of scientific method (“Interactive Statistics” Aliaga, Gunderson, Prentice Hall, 2003) • Information Technology (IT)

Syllabus change • Decisions with statistics • Data production • Type of studies • Descriptive statistics • Basis for inference • Inference • Methods

IT use • Web courseware: Web. CT • Web site • Statistical software

Web. CT • General class information: syllabus, time schedule, news, grades, homeworks, databases…

Statistics website • Organized around scientific method • Based on objects learning • Concept maps are imbeded

Object learning model • • Concept map Lecture notes Proposed exercises Solved exercises Online questions Suggested bibliography Explicative hypertexts Simulations applets

asynchronically • 95 SPSS network licenses • SPSS tutorials in website • Tutorial room

Software • Dreamweave: web site construction • Cmap. Tools: concept maps • Flash and Descartes: simulation applets • Hot. Potatotes: online questions

STATISTICS website tour http: //dta. utalca. cl/estadistica/

Challenges • Student appropiate use • Website update • Thesis students tools