Demonstration of Statistical Concepts with Animated Graphics and Simulations in R

• Activity Number: 545
• Type: Contributed
• Date/Time: Wednesday, August 12, 2015 : 10:30 AM to 12:20 PM
• Sponsor: Section on Statistical Education
• Author(s): Andrej Blejec*
• Companies: National Institute of Biology
• Keywords: R ; graphics ; animation ; teaching ; simulation

Abstract

Understanding of statistical concepts is important for proper use of statistics. For many non-statistics major students, mathematical formulation of statistical concepts and proofs can be confusing. In practice it happens quite often that users of statistics lack proper understanding of statistical concepts. The idea of using simulations and dynamic graphics to foster understanding of statistical concepts is not new. What is changing all the time is technology that can be used for that. In recent years, R became the lingua franca for statistical data analysis. It is greatly supported with integrated development environments for easier use of R (e.g. RStudio) and user interaction with graphics and simulations (e.g. Shiny). While R graphical devices are not meant for display of animated graphics, my aim is to use base R graphics for display of animated sequences. This is enabled with a R package animator, which supports smooth transitions of graphical elements and thus extends and simplifies preparation of animated displays. I will discuss the package features and demonstrate several animations that might be useful for demonstration of important statistical concepts.