The Penn State Model for the Intro Stat Course: A Description and an Assessment

• Activity Number: 105
• Type: Topic Contributed
• Date/Time: Monday, August 12, 2002 : 10:30 AM to 12:20 PM
• Sponsor: Section on Statistical Education*
• Author(s): William Harkness*+ and Patricia Buchanan*+ and Robert Heckard*+
• Affiliation(s): Pennsylvania State University and Pennsylvania State University and Pennsylvania State University
• Keywords: Introductory Course ; Collaborative Learning ; Instructional Technology ; Computer Labs

Abstract

Our introductory service course in statistics, serving 2200 students, has been restructured. In the old format, students attended three lectures and two recitation meetings/week. Instructors lectured to groups of about 240 students. Twelve graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) each taught two one-hour recitation sections to forty students, held office hours, and graded exams. This was labor-intensive, creating resource problems for the department. The course redesign involved reducing lectures from three to one/week, changing recitation sections to computer-mediated workshops, adding technology-based independent learning materials and computerized testing to give students more practice time and feedback, and shifting instructional roles from information presentation to learning facilitation. Computer-based classes enable students to work in teams, generating more active participation, technology-based collaborative learning, and hands-on experience with statistical analysis. Labs are managed by faculty, GTAs and an undergraduate intern; homework is graded by ug students. We will present our experience with the new course, an assessment of learning outcomes, and other aspects of the change.