Innovative Changes to Stat Ed Curriculum II: Teaching Introductory Statistics Using In-Class Activities

• Activity Number: 654
• Type: Contributed
• Date/Time: Thursday, August 13, 2015 : 8:30 AM to 10:20 AM
• Sponsor: Section on Statistical Education
• Author(s): William Rybolt* and George Recck
• Companies: Babson College and Babson College
• Keywords: experiential learning ; flipping the classroom ; outcome communcation ; peer learning

Abstract

Recently, Babson College transitioned its freshmen introduction to business analytics classes from a 75-minute lecture-based format to a 95-minute activity enhanced format. These activities typically occur near the end of each class and last twenty to thirty minutes. The activities are group-based where a group involves three or four students that remain together for several classes. These activities involve answering several questions about a situation requiring the use of the skills associated with that and previous classes. The group then prepares a report in either paper or electronic form to be submitted at by the end of the class. The ideal is a task which requires the students to work together to collect, organize, analyze, and interpret data before presenting their results. If time permits, a member from a group called is upon to share aspects of their findings with the class. In this presentation, we give examples of both our more and less successful activities. We also identify the most common problems we have encountered, describe how we have dealt with them, and share our future plans.