More Questions and Fewer Contexts: Designing Exercises for Statistics Courses

Abstract

Over the past 30 years, the way in which the first course in statistics has been taught has moved away from a mathematics mode to take account of the distinctiveness of statistics. This article considers exercises for the typical introductory course and gives some evidence that many of these look like somewhat expanded versions of mathematics course exercises, and are thus less than optimal given the goals of statistics education. The article contends that exercises for statistics courses can be and should be designed with many interrelated questions built around a context to emphasize the connections between the tools used and the context. This type of exercise is termed a guided inquiry exercise (GIE) and it is argued that such exercises are not a new idea, are employed in some teaching materials, and are able to be created by instructors. Some of the implications and challenges for teaching and learning using GIEs are discussed. Teachers of statistics are encouraged to create their own, and advice is given to that end.

Keywords

• activities for students
• introductory textbooks
• homework sets
• practice for students
• project alternatives