Patti Frazer Lock is a professor in the department of mathematics, computer science, and statistics at St. Lawrence University. Statistics: Unlocking the Power of Data 3e, Digital Update is authored by Professor Frazer Lock and her family - the Lock 5. In addition to authoring statistics texts, she is a member of the Calculus Consortium for Higher Education and co-author with the consortium on Wiley Multivariable and Applied Calculus texts.

The evidence continues to grow that using an active learning model in our classrooms increases student learning.  Many instructors are interested in finding ways to incorporate more active learning in the way we teach our classes, but might need help in figuring out how to do it effectively.   The Instructor Resources provided with Statistics: Unlocking the Power of Data by Lock, Lock, Lock, Lock, and Lock are designed to facilitate a move to a more active classroom, and we’ll reference these resources in this blog.

Clicker Questions

One quick and effective way to increase student engagement is to use “clicker questions” during class.  This can be done using technology such as iClicker, which is free for students if the college or university has a license, but it can also work by giving cards to students and have them hold up the appropriate card with their answer.   These multiple-choice questions can be used in a variety of ways: from quick “are you with me?” questions, to thought-provoking “think-pair-share” questions.  The Lock5 Instructor Resources include a full range of clicker questions that are ready to go (and editable) on PowerPoint slides.  

Using these questions can completely change the dynamic of a class, since the instructor is asking all students to engage with the material.  The questions range from simple (e.g. “Is this interpretation of a confidence interval correct or incorrect?”) to more thought-provoking (e.g. “How will increasing the sample size affect the sampling distribution?”) to asking opinions ( e.g. “do you think there is an association between these variables?”).  In every case, the questions ensure that students are with the instructor and focused on the class material.  A side benefit is that the questions allow the instructor to quickly take the pulse of the class and to assess whether more time is needed on a specific topic.  The queries can be used effectively in a large or small class and in an online or hybrid or in-person class.

Groupwork

Groupwork can engage students in both situational content and statistical content of the course. Interesting data sets and engaging questions facilitate active learning through discussion because they care about the answers! The Lock5 Instructor Resources include Worksheets for every section in the book, and every worksheet includes examples for the instructor to present as well as some questions to be worked on by the students, either individually or in groups.  Every section includes interesting data sets that make for great group discussions; there are enough that an instructor could grab some for groupwork in class, and still have lots to choose from for class examples and homework assignments.  Some of our favorites are: 

• Goldilocks Effect (Introduced in Section 1.1, #1.13)
• Transgenerational Effects of Diet and Environment (Introduced in Section 1.1, #1.22 and #1.23)
• Split the Bill? (introduced in Section 2.4, #2.177)
• Is There a Commitment Gene (introduced in Section 2.5, # 2.208)
• Best Ways to Study (introduced in Section 3.1, #3.29)
• Does Imagining Movement Strengthen Muscles? (Section 4.2, #4.78)
• Dogs Decide Quickly Whether to Trust You (introduced in Section 5.1 #5.25)
• Crows Never Forget a Face! (introduced in Section 6.3, Data 6.3).  

Activities 

Activities to enhance active learning can even be short 5 – 10 minute projects designed to directly engage the student.  One of our favorites can be done on the very first day: Ask students to write down a sequence of ten Heads or Tails.  When they are finished, ask them what they put for the very first thing in the sequence (H or T).  Most likely the overwhelming majority will have put H first.  The interesting thing is that when you say “Tails or Heads” in your instructions, more will put T first.  The same happens if you use Purple and Orange instead of Heads and Tails! The activity is described in more detail in the Lock5 text, Section 1.2, # 1.63.  It is a great and subtle example of wording bias, and you can return to this data from class when you do hypothesis tests in Chapter 4 or Chapter 6.   

The Lock5 Instructor Resources include a recommended Activity for every section. There are many other ideas for more expanded activities, like:

• We love doing a Student Survey the first day of class (See the Activity handout for Section 1.1) in which we collect data from the students and then use it for examples throughout the semester
• A “Data Viz” contest (See the Activity handout for Section 2.7) in which students find their own examples of interesting and creative data visualizations and then present them to the class.
• For more in-depth examination of a single dataset, there are Case Studies included for every chapter. 

Videos: Flipping the Classroom

For those wishing to go “all in” on active learning by flipping their classrooms, videos are a powerful option. With the Lock5 WileyPLUS course, there are videos provided for every section. There are also full PowerPoint slides for every section which can be used in the classroom but can also be used by instructors to easily create their own videos.  The book itself is also designed to be read by students if that works better in your classes.  A flipped classroom can be very effective.

Active Learning data!  

Lastly, we love to share the data from a study on active learning with our students.  This study is introduced in Section 1.1 (Exercise 1.15) and then revisited in Section 4.1 (Exercise #4.17) and Section 6.4 (Exercises 6.234 and 6.235).  The data comes from a randomized experiment done in a Physics classroom, in which students were tested on how much they learned and on how much they think they learned.  As you might guess, the study provides evidence that students learn more in an active learning classroom, but they think they learn more in a passive learning classroom.  

Since many of our students tend to think they learn more in a lecture classroom, these results convey a strong message that perception is not always reality.  The data also strongly supports an instructor's decision to include more active learning.  We can remind our students that we make evidence-based decisions!