December 2015 Science Journal

Feature Story
A CARTOON TO TEACH ABOUT THE CAPTURE-RECAPTURE
METHOD. This is part of a three cartoon set from Dr.
Weaver that took first place in the cartoon category of
the 2007 A-Mu-sing competition. It is free to use in the
classroom and on course web sites.
Credit: Cartoon by John Landers (www.landers.co.uk) based on an idea
and sketch from Sheila O. Weaver (University of Vermont).
about how these interactive songs are being designed
to challenge students to construct examples
and/or context thereby fostering statistical
literacy and reasoning skills,” Pearl said.
While Pearl primarily focuses on cultivating
the resources, professional development, outreach,
and research available to statistics educators
across the country, Kari Lock Morgan
is specifically focusing on improving how Penn
State students learn statistics by redesigning
introductory courses and refining teaching
methods to make them more effective.
Redesigning Statistics Education
For many, statistics stirs up a mental picture
of memorizing mathematical algorithms and
computations but never really understanding
them. Students have been taught through plug
and chug type courses and retained information
long enough for an exam, then disregarded it
and moved on to the next topic. Although the
content and teaching methods have not changed
much over the last few decades, Lock Morgan is
on a mission to change the perception, as well
as the content and way that students learn statistics.
Traditionally, statistics has been taught such
that students memorize mathematical equations,
theory, and distributions. Although this
method has worked for statistics majors and
those who are very motivated and very interested
in learning about the topic, it has been
very difficult for students who need basic statistics
knowledge on their way to another degree.
Many non-statistics students develop only superficial
understanding and do not retain much
of the information learned in class. These students
can repeat theories and solve basic problems,
but most are doing it through conditioning
and memorization. Students may not actually
understand the numbers they are calculating.
Lock Morgan, who was named a 2015 Eberly
College of Science Center for Excellence in Science
Education Tombros Fellow, has dedicated
her career thus far to teaching statistics in a
more intuitive way so that students comprehend
the information and can apply it. “I am grateful
that the fellowship allows me to focus more of
my time where my passion truly lies; on making
statistics more about conceptual understanding
and solving real-world problems,” Lock Morgan
said.
For her fellowship project, Lock Morgan chose
to overhaul STAT 250: Introduction to Biostatistics.
Rather than relying on formulas and
theoretical distributions, she is introducing inference
via simulation methods, which include
bootstrap confidence intervals and randomization
hypothesis tests. With today’s technology,
statistics students are able to utilize computing
to get answers in a simpler and more intuitive
way. This provides students with a more general
way to approach statistical problem, focusing
on the big picture and helping students apply
the methods to real world problems. It also
builds conceptual understanding so students
better understand their results, and can better
interpret statistics they may encounter in other
situations. The changes she is working on are
in both content and pedagogy. “Incorporating
real-life scenarios into teaching encourages the
students to relate to the material and therefore
be more engaged in class and the learning process.
Students who have a solid understanding
of the foundational aspects of this method are
able to effectively collect data, analyze data, and
interpret conclusions drawn from data and see
the real-world value of statistics,” Lock Morgan
said.
She aims to help students develop a strong
intuitive understanding of inference through
randomization methods. Once this ground work
is established and students have a conceptual
understanding and appreciation for the results,
they can then compute using the more traditional
methods of statistics, including t-tests and
chi-square tests.
A Family Affair
Lock Morgan is not alone in her quest to improve
statistics education; her father, mother, and two
brothers are also statisticians who have a passion
for statistics and education. As a team, the
five wrote Statistics: Unlocking the Power of
Data, a textbook for introductory statistics. “It
may be unusual to write a book with your entire
family, but for us it has worked really well, probably
because we all like each other a lot. We
generally agree on big picture things, but each
bring our own unique perspectives and opinions
on the finer details, which ultimately improves
the final product,” Lock Morgan said. The book
has been heavily adopted in academia; teachers
across the county are utilizing the innovative
approaches in the text to help teach more effectively
and assist students in actually learning
and using the material.
Additionally, the Locks have developed a
website, lock5stat.com, that provides resources
to support their textbook and statistics education
as a whole. Their online software, StatKey,
a collection of web-based statistics applications,
accompanies the textbook. Their website also
provides data sets in several formats that educators
can use in their classrooms. These datasets
help teachers provide real-world examples
to help students see the practical applications of
statistics. As of July, StatKey has had 8 million
page views, with over 1,000 sessions per day,
and has been used in 138 countries.
Lock Morgan herself uses the datasets in her
A FAMILY OF STATISTICIANS. Pictured below are Patti
Frazer Lock, Robin H. Lock, Dennis F. Lock, Kari Lock
Morgan, and Eric F. Lock
Credit: Photo from lock5stat.com
20 Penn State Eberly College of Science SCIENCE JOURNAL December 2015
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