ERIC Number: ED458272
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 2001-Aug
Two Heads Are Better Than One: Learning Statistics in Common.
Dunn, Dana S.
Students should not learn statistical concepts in isolation; statistics and data analysis invite conversations concerning which analysis to use and why, what was found and why, and what results mean and why. To emphasize the importance of this learning in common, a college teacher requires students to collaborate on research projects from hypothesis conception to empirical realization, from data collection to analysis, interpretation, write-up, and presentation. Collaborative efforts provide a practical division of labor and necessarily promote recursive learning, as collaborators must explain and justify their choices to one another. Learning statistics in common encourages students to clarify the choice, application, and appropriateness of statistical analyses; to share and defend a data analytic point of view; to learn while critiquing the perspective of another; to cooperate to create a finished project (manuscript or talk); and to mimic professional psychologists who often work on joint research projects. (Author/SLD)
Descriptors: College Students, Cooperative Learning, Higher Education, Peer Teaching, Statistics, Teaching Methods
Publication Type: Opinion Papers; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Note: Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Association (109th, San Francisco, CA, August 24-28, 2001). Portions of presentation funded by Moravian College Faculty Development and Research (FDRC) Award and a 2001 FDRC Summer Stipend.