Exploring (and Removing) Hesitations to Using (Thoughtful) Fun in Statistics Classes

• Activity Number: 203
• Type: Roundtables
• Date/Time: Monday, August 5, 2013 : 12:30 PM to 1:50 PM
• Sponsor: Section on Statistical Education
• Author(s): Lawrence M. Lesser*+
• Companies: The University of Texas at El Paso
• Keywords: fun ; motivation ; hesitation ; humor ; anxiety ; education

Abstract

Many instructors appreciate the value of making statistics courses (especially for non-majors) more engaging and fun to build classroom community, reduce student anxiety/disinterest, and increase motivation and memorability of content. Some instructors hesitate, believing they lack sufficient class time, skills/talent, or resources for readily finding and using quality examples. Other hesitations include the need to be perceived as sufficiently serious, or not being aware of any empirical evidence that this approach can help student learning. We will discuss these hesitations so we all leave with more understanding of how they can be addressed. My contributions will be informed by Project UPLIFT, "Universal Portability of Learning Increased by Fun Teaching" (the NSF TUES type 1 grant I have with Dennis Pearl, John Weber, and Rey Reyes, now entering its second year) as well as by work with my colleagues in the CAUSE "Study of Fun" Cluster that was published this past March in Journal of Statistics Education (L. M. Lesser, A. A. Wall, R. H. Carver, D. K. Pearl, N. Martin, S. Kuiper, M. A. Posner, P. Erickson, S.-M.Liao, J. Albert, J. J. Weber, 2013) and presented at USCOTS 2013.