Contributed paper list


   (Friday 16th, 08:20-09:20)

Enhancing statistical literacy through short open-ended questions that involve context, data, and upper level thinking

Authors

Mahtash Esfandiari, Hai Nguyen, Yuliya Yaglovskaya, Robert Gould

Presenter

Robert Gould (United States)

Abstract

Communication of statistical results through writing has been recognized as one of the major objectives of any statistics course. The first step we took toward this objective was developing a bank of multiple-choice questions that involve real context and data relevant to students’ lives. While the majority of students (more than 70%) are able to identify the correct answer to concepts such as confidence interval and P value, they are not able to generate correct written responses to the same concepts. We report on a National Science Foundation project to create short open-ended questions involving real context and data, three typical answers (excellent, satisfactory, and inadequate), a detailed rubric, and a computerized system to score the students’ responses. Consequently, the students will enhance their statistical literacy though examination of the typical answers, generating written responses, and creating connections between major concepts covered in the lecture and data analysis labs.