Lessons Learned: Revising an Online Introductory Course

• Activity Number: 624 - Overcoming Challenges in Developing and Deploying Partially and Fully Online Statistics Courses
• Type: Contributed
• Date/Time: Thursday, August 1, 2019 : 8:30 AM to 10:20 AM
• Sponsor: Section on Statistics and Data Science Education
• Author(s): Erin E Blankenship* and Ella Burnham
• Companies: University of Nebraska-Lincoln and University of Nebraska- Lincoln
• Keywords: Simulation-based inference; online; introductory statistics; assessment

Abstract

Enrollment in the algebra-based introductory statistics course has increased dramatically over the last 15 years (CBMS, 2017). Online intro courses allow universities to better serve students enrolled in distance-only degree programs, as well as potentially relieve bottlenecks in over-subscribed traditional sections. We recently developed a fully-online course using the simulation-based inference approach to introductory statistics. The goal of the course was in large part to mimic the traditional, face-to-face version as closely as possible. In this presentation, we’ll discuss what worked, what didn’t, and what we’ve changed/sacrificed in our original vision.