Meeting Abstract

P3.121  Tuesday, Jan. 6  Exorcising Statistical Demons: Interactive Tutorial (StatTA) Promotes Statistical Literacy and Supports Inquiry-based Instruction in Biology TANKERSLEY, R.A.; LOPEZ-DUARTE, P.C.*; Florida Institute of Technology; Scripps Institution of Oceanography rtankers@fit.edu

Recent curricular reforms for teaching introductory statistics focus on providing students with practical experiences with data and training in the use of computers to explore fundamental concepts of exploratory analysis and inferential testing. Although computers and statistical software have freed students from the computational drudgery associated with performing many tests, students still struggle with selecting and performing the appropriate statistical analysis, interpreting results, and understanding the connections among procedures. We addressed these pedagogical challenges through the development of a web-based, interactive instructional program (StatTA) that fosters statistical literacy by improving student competency and proficiency in practicing statistics. The program is designed to support inquiry-based and problem-based activities in biology and includes interactive exercises and tutorials, demonstrations, and self-test activities that help students select and perform statistical procedures, identify the relationships among tests, and master the art of statistical thinking and practice. StatTA enables instructors to focus on conceptual statistical thinking and interpretation rather than the steps and procedures necessary to perform a test. Thus, students spend less time learning statistical software and completing computational recipes and more time learning how scientists and statisticians approach problems and interpret statistical results. Evaluation results indicate the program is effective in helping students conceptualize the relationships among statistical tests and apply appropriate statistical procedures to novel research problems.