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The Center for the Teaching of Statistics seeks to provide a model for Statistics education in the Southern California region by integrating research in Statistics and Pedagogy with technological innovations. We intend to serve as a resource for not just UCLA but the Southern California statistics community and, to the extent possible, to the Statistics community in general. We have formed some collaborative partnerships with AP Statistics educators, and plan to form future partnerships with educators in K-12, community colleges, and local colleges and universities. We will grow as resources and interest permits, but are already engaged in a number of activities concerning introductory Statistics teaching, AP Statistics, and technology in the classroom.
4 - 5 pm, Thursday, May 1, 2008
5137 Math Sciences Bldg.
Dept. of Statistics, Ohio State University
Education reforms in the last fifteen years have enlivened the teaching of introductory statistics with fewer lectures and more active learning, fewer recipes and more conceptual thinking, fewer contrivances and more real data. However, bringing these reforms to large multi-section introductory courses has been a difficult challenge. Thus, the buffet model was developed at The Ohio State University to use class size as a strength rather than a weakness, to optimize learning for the individual rather than norming for the group, and to integrate technology as an efficient tool rather than an expensive add-on.
Students learn in different ways so, in the buffet model, different course sections are geared toward different learning styles and students are offered a choice of interchangeable paths to learn the same course objectives. In order to promote student commitment to follow through on their choices and to enable efficient tracking of each student's progress through the course, the choice of learning modes is exercised through an on-line "contract" entered into by students at the beginning of the quarter. Students can make an informed choice based on the results of their own learning styles inventory and by reading testimony from previous students most like themselves. The buffet structure has been successful in increasing both student satisfaction and student learning. For example, scores on common exams have increased by about a half-letter grade while dropouts and students needing to retake this required course have decreased by about 40%. Finally, key elements of the buffet strategy can also be adapted to smaller classes to improve student learning.
Dr. Nicolas Christou has been honored as one of 3 recipients of the prestigious Brian P. Copenhaver Award for Innovation in Teaching with Technology for 2008.
Nicolas' award is in recognition of his development of the suite of interactive learning materials and simulation tools available through the Statistics Online Computational Resource and used by students and researchers at UCLA and around the globe[1]. More specifically, his recognition is for[2]:
• His contributions to the Statistics EBook
• His lead in building SOCR curriculum resources and classroom integration of SOCR materials in many lower and upper division classes
• His development of novel interactive activities included in the SOCR Experiments and SOCR Analyses
• His developments of dozens of learning modules (e.g., Relations between distributions)
Recipients of the Award were selected by the Faculty Committee on Educational Technology and prior award recipients. Award recipients and nominees will be recognized at a reception May 19, 2008 at the Faculty Center. To promote the open exchange of ideas in the use of technology in teaching, the Office of Instructional Development will, as in previous years, be interviewing all nominees for the Copenhaver Award. The interviews will be put on line as they become available.[1]
[1] http://www.oid.ucla.edu/edtech/bpcaward/bpca2008Date Posted: 2008-04-17, 08:19:00
Registration Deadline for the CensusAtSchool International Workshop for k-12 Teachers closes on May 30th.
Entries for the poster competition during the workshop also closes on May 30th.
Please, visit the the workshop's website to download the registration form http://censusatschool-california.stat.ucla.edu/ or contact the conference organizer, Juana Sanchez, (jsanchez@stat.ucla.edu)
Date Posted: 2008-04-17, 07:30:00
2nd CensusAtSchool International Workshop to be held at UCLA, Los Angeles, July 28-29, 2008
The International CensusAtSchool Project, http://www.censusatschool.ntu.ac.uk/ and http://www.stat.auckland.ac.nz/~iase/islp/census is one of the most comprehensive teacher training program and one of the most complete set of prepared resources for K-12 teachers interested increasing the data handling and chance skills of their students in compliance with GAISE and NCTM standards. The C@S teacher training resources and student activities are all built around the classroom data and the international data set resulting from more than 5 years of surveying children in their classrooms across 5 countries in the world. Every year or every two years, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the UK, allow thousands of teachers to register online their students to participate on an online survey that asks fun questions. South Africa did this in 2001, too. The data collected from each classroom is immediately sent to the teachers for use in lessons previously prepared by the C@S leaders, and at the same time is compiled by the Royal Statistical Society in an International Data Base in the UK. Anybody in the world can access this database and select a random sample of up to 500 students from these countries, over several years and across 5 countries. C@S resources not only engage students in learning data handling and chance but also provides them with an international experience where they can compare themselves with students from 5 countries in the world. In addition to that, the leaders of this project train the teachers beforehand on how to make the most out of these resources. All of this is done free to the teachers and the students. The questionnaires, the activities and data sets are free to anyone.
Please visit the event's web site (http://censusatschool-california.stat.ucla.edu) for more information. The event is organized by Juana Sanchez.
Date Posted: 2008-01-15, 15:04:00
Presented by the UCLA Center for Teaching Statistics and the Statistics Online Computational Resource (SOCR)
Days and Time: Thursday, 4-5pm
Location: Math Science 5137
Date Posted: 2008-04-16, 08:34:00
Ariana Anderson has been awarded a teaching fellowship by the Collegium of University Teaching Fellows committee.
"The CUTF is an innovative program that creates unique learning opportunities for both graduate teaching fellows and undergraduate students on campus. Through the program, some of UCLA's very best advanced graduate students have the opportunity to develop and teach a lower division seminar in their field of specialization on a one-time only basis. This experience serves as a "capstone" to the teaching apprenticeship, preparing them for the academic job market and their role as future faculty. At the same time, undergraduates enrolled in CUTF seminars have the chance to take courses that are at the cutting edge of a discipline, and to experience the benefits of participating in a small-seminar environment."[1]
Ariana's accepted proposal is entitled "Pseudo-Science: Rational thought Processes". Ariana explains:
"In this class, we will learn how to objectively read writings and judge common, yet often controversial, claims in American culture. Sample topics covered will be the relationship between autism and vaccinations, global warming and human behavior, holistic medicine, and the safety of genetically modified foods. Students will learn how to locate scientific sources to validate claims, and how to objectively interpret statements in the light of data and logic. The last portion of the course will focus on the neurophysiological and logical implications of belief, discovering how the brain evaluates and invalidates arguments. The beliefs held in the natural world of science will be contrasted to the beliefs held in our personal life, illuminating how we develop our convictions on both. By evaluating polarizing topics through the lens of statistics and logic, we will learn how faith and beliefs bias not only other people's conclusions, but also our own."
The course is a 5 unit course, will meet two days a week, and will be conducted in the Winter/Spring 2008 term.
Ariana is a third year in the Statistics department and has a strong interest in statistical applications in Psychiatry.
[1] From Overview at http://www.oid.ucla.edu/Cutf
Date Posted: 2008-04-16, 09:32:00
Ivo Dinov and Luminita Vese are co-organizing a two part session on Computational Science and Biology: The Challenges, Data, Methods and Tools (MS4, MS12) for the SIAM Conference on Imaging Science.
This special session on computational science will discuss the modern challenges, algorithms, datasets, discrete and analytical models and software tools for addressing varieties of problems arising in biomedicine, computational biology, engineering and social research. The goal of the session is to build bridges between existent imaging, physics, mathematics and statistics-based techniques and provide the infrastructure for data, models and software exchange between different computational science areas. Such interdisciplinary efforts will reduce redundancies in model and tool developments, significantly improve the validation of models and software tools and provide the framework for development of new computational meta-algorithms and elaborate integrated software resources.
The conference is being held July 7-9, 2008 in San Diego. For more information see the SIAM Conference on Imaging Science site.
The conference is sponsored by SIAM Activity Group on Imaging Science (SIAG/IS).
Date Posted: 2008-04-17, 09:38:00
On May 05, 2008 Ivo Dinov will give a ASA/GAISE Webinar for middle school teachers in various science and quantitative disciplines. For information please see the webinar web site.
Date Posted: 2008-04-17, 10:15:00