STATISTICS FOR CLASSROOM TEACHERS

Ma 609

Course Description

This course is designed to develop an appreciation and general understanding of

statistics. It offers an interpretation of fundamental statistical concepts as applied

in the fields of education. A mathematics background (i.e., advanced

mathematics courses) is not required.

Goals of the Course

1. To provide mathematics teachers understanding of statistics in relation to

numerous practical situations.

2. To provide insight into the fundamental concepts of statistics; collection,

organization, analysis and interpretation of numerical data.

3. To provide familiarity with technology available to assist in preparing

statistical reports.

4. To instill the importance of problem solving, communication, and reasoning in

the mathematics curriculum.

5. To emphasize the importance of experimentation and exploration in the

learning probability and statistics.

Instructional Procedures

The course is conducted in such a way that it provides a model for the teaching

process and thus includes use of simulation, experimentation, and technology in

the classroom.

Course Content

1. Introduction to the importance of statistics.

2. Measures of center.

3. Measures of variability and spread.

4. Distribution of data.

5. Organizing and displaying data.

6. Probability and the binomial distribution.

7. Normal distribution and standard normal curve.

8. Distribution of sample means (Central Limit Theorem).

9. Sampling error, confidence intervals, and hypothesis testing.

10. Regression, correlation, and curve fitting.

11. Two-way tables and the Chi-square test.

12. Random sampling, simulation, and Monte Carlo technique.

Evaluation Measures

1. Class participation, presentations, and projects.

2. Reaction papers on films and readings.

3. Homework assignments.

3. Exams.

4. Portfolio of semester’s projects and work.

Bibliography

A. Required Text

Shulte, Albert P. and James R. Smart, eds., Teaching Statistics and

Probability: 1981 Yearbook, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics,

Reston, VA, 1981.

Johnson, Robert, Just the Essentials of Elementary Statistics, Wadsworth

Publishing Co., Belmont, CA, 1995.

Weinberg, Sharon, and Kenneth Goldberg, Basic Statistics for Education and

The Behavioral Sciences, Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, 1993.

B. Additional Required Readings

Burrill, Gail, et al., Data Analysis and Statistics across the Curriculum:

Addenda Series, Grades 9—12, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics,

Reston, VA, 1992.

Huff, Darrell, How to Lie with Statistics, W. W. Norton & Co. Inc., New

York, 1954.

C. Supporting Bibliography

Lindquist, Mary M., et al., Making Sense of Data: Addenda Series, Grades

K—6, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Reston, VA, 1992.

Mosteller, Frederick, Stephen E. Fienberg, and Robert E. K. Rourke, Beginning

Statistics with Data Analysis, Addison-Wesley, Reading, Mass., 1983.

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Principles and Standards for

School Mathematics, Reston, VA, 2000.

Rossman, Allan J., and Barr von Oehsen, Workshop Statistics: Discovery with

Data and the Graphing Calculator, Key Curriculum Press, Berkeley, Calif., 1997.

Scheaffer, Richard, et al., Activity-Based Statistics—Instructor Resources,

Springer-Verlag Inc., New York, 1996.

Standards for Curriculum and Evaluation, National Council of Teachers of

Mathematics, Reston, VA, 1989.

Tufte, Edward R., The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, Graphics

Press, Cheshire, CT, 1983.

Zawojewski, Judith, et al., Dealing with Data and Chance: Addenda Series,

Grades 5—8, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Reston, VA, 1991.

D. Relevant Periodical Sources

“Data Analysis,” focus issue of the Mathematics Teacher, February 1990.

“Data Exploration,” focus issue of the Teaching Children Mathematics,

February 1996.

Consortium, newsletter of the Consortium of Mathematics and its

Applications (COMAP).

E. Other Resources

Software

Minitab and/or other statistical packages.

Websites

CHANCE

http://www.geom.umn.edu/docs/snell/chance

StatVillage

http://www.math.sfu.ca/stats/Innovation/StatVillage/index.html

Videos

Against All Odds: Inside Statistics Annenberg/CPC Collection*

#1 What is statistics?

#2 Picturing distributions. (V545)

#3 Describing distributions.

#4 Normal distributions. (V546)

#5 Normal calculations. (V547)

#9 Correlation. (V549)

#14 Samples and surveys. (V551)

#15 What is probability?

#16 Random variables. (V552)

#17 Binomial distributions.

#18 Sample mean and control charts. (V553)

#19 Confidence intervals.

#20 Significance tests. (V554)

#21 Inference for one mean.

#22 Comparing two means. (V555)

#23 Inference for proportions.

#24 Inference for two-way tables. (V556)

For All Practical Purposes-II. Statistics: The Science of Data, Telecourse,

Consortium of Mathematics and its Applications (COMAP).*

(V1754)

(V1755)

(V1756)

Math TV: Statistics and Probability, Consortium of Mathematics and its

Applications (COMAP).

Statistics: Decisions through Data, Consortium of Mathematics and its

Applications (COMAP).

#1—6 Basic Data Analysis

#7—10 Data Analysis for One Variable

#11—14 Data Analysis for Two Variables

#15—18 Planning Data Collections

#19—21 Introduction to Inference