Engaging and motivating students with authentic statistical projects in a capstone unit

Ayse Aysin Bilgin; Glenn Newbery; Peter Petocz

Engaging and motivating students with authentic statistical projects in a capstone unit

Ayse Aysin Bilgin, Glenn Newbery, Peter Petocz

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference proceeding contribution › peer-review

Abstract

Students preparing for professional statistical work can benefit from experience with real statistical problems presented by real clients and requiring them to engage with the complete problem-solving process without the usual cues of ‘textbook’ examples. We have used such an approach in a capstone unit in statistical consulting, asking students to write about their learning experiences and to reflect on the ways in which such consultations helped them (or not) to
develop their professional statistical skills. A content analysis of students’ comments focusing on engagement and motivation confirmed that students had generally positive views of their experience and found the approach engaging and motivating. On this basis, we recommend utilising real problems from real clients as a means of including authentic practice in a professional statistics degree, with consequent benefits for students’ engagement and motivation.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Advances in statistics education
Subtitle of host publication	developments, experiences and assessments. Proceedings of the Satellite conference of the International Association for Statistical Education
Editors	M. A. Sorto
Pages	1-6
Number of pages	6
Publication status	Published - 2015
Event	IASE 2015 Satellite Conference: Advances in statistics education: developments, experiences, and assessments - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Duration: 22 Jul 2015 → 24 Jul 2015 https://iase-web.org/conference/satellite15/

Conference

Conference	IASE 2015 Satellite Conference
Country/Territory	Brazil
City	Rio de Janeiro
Period	22/07/15 → 24/07/15
Internet address	https://iase-web.org/conference/satellite15/

Cite this

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title = "Engaging and motivating students with authentic statistical projects in a capstone unit",

abstract = "Students preparing for professional statistical work can benefit from experience with real statistical problems presented by real clients and requiring them to engage with the complete problem-solving process without the usual cues of {\textquoteleft}textbook{\textquoteright} examples. We have used such an approach in a capstone unit in statistical consulting, asking students to write about their learning experiences and to reflect on the ways in which such consultations helped them (or not) to develop their professional statistical skills. A content analysis of students{\textquoteright} comments focusing on engagement and motivation confirmed that students had generally positive views of their experience and found the approach engaging and motivating. On this basis, we recommend utilising real problems from real clients as a means of including authentic practice in a professional statistics degree, with consequent benefits for students{\textquoteright} engagement and motivation.",

author = "Bilgin, \{Ayse Aysin\} and Glenn Newbery and Peter Petocz",

year = "2015",

language = "English",

pages = "1--6",

editor = "Sorto, \{M. A.\}",

booktitle = "Advances in statistics education",

note = "IASE 2015 Satellite Conference : Advances in statistics education: developments, experiences, and assessments ; Conference date: 22-07-2015 Through 24-07-2015",

url = "https://iase-web.org/conference/satellite15/",

}

Bilgin, AA, Newbery, G & Petocz, P 2015, Engaging and motivating students with authentic statistical projects in a capstone unit. in MA Sorto (ed.), Advances in statistics education: developments, experiences and assessments. Proceedings of the Satellite conference of the International Association for Statistical Education. pp. 1-6, IASE 2015 Satellite Conference, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 22/07/15.

Engaging and motivating students with authentic statistical projects in a capstone unit. / Bilgin, Ayse Aysin; Newbery, Glenn; Petocz, Peter.
Advances in statistics education: developments, experiences and assessments. Proceedings of the Satellite conference of the International Association for Statistical Education. ed. / M. A. Sorto. 2015. p. 1-6.

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference proceeding contribution › peer-review

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AU - Newbery, Glenn

AU - Petocz, Peter

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N2 - Students preparing for professional statistical work can benefit from experience with real statistical problems presented by real clients and requiring them to engage with the complete problem-solving process without the usual cues of ‘textbook’ examples. We have used such an approach in a capstone unit in statistical consulting, asking students to write about their learning experiences and to reflect on the ways in which such consultations helped them (or not) to develop their professional statistical skills. A content analysis of students’ comments focusing on engagement and motivation confirmed that students had generally positive views of their experience and found the approach engaging and motivating. On this basis, we recommend utilising real problems from real clients as a means of including authentic practice in a professional statistics degree, with consequent benefits for students’ engagement and motivation.

AB - Students preparing for professional statistical work can benefit from experience with real statistical problems presented by real clients and requiring them to engage with the complete problem-solving process without the usual cues of ‘textbook’ examples. We have used such an approach in a capstone unit in statistical consulting, asking students to write about their learning experiences and to reflect on the ways in which such consultations helped them (or not) to develop their professional statistical skills. A content analysis of students’ comments focusing on engagement and motivation confirmed that students had generally positive views of their experience and found the approach engaging and motivating. On this basis, we recommend utilising real problems from real clients as a means of including authentic practice in a professional statistics degree, with consequent benefits for students’ engagement and motivation.

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Y2 - 22 July 2015 through 24 July 2015

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Engaging and motivating students with authentic statistical projects in a capstone unit

Abstract

Conference

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