What’s Wrong with Stat 101?

George W. CobbMount Holyoke CollegeGCobb@MtHolyoke.edu

USCOTS 2015State College PA, May 28

I. The evolving role of mathematicsII. Our blinkered visionIII. Four connections to practice

OVERVIEW

I. The evolving role of mathematics

1. Bernoulli (1692): computational engine2. Fisher (1922): source of unifying theory3. Mosteller (1955): source of respectability 4. AP curriculum: helicopter parent

Tests and intervals for

• One proportion• One mean• Difference of two proportions• Difference of two means• Difference among several proportions• Difference among several means• Mean of Y|x, provided E(Y|x) is linear in x

II. Blinkered vision: Two oversights

• Variation: Two parables and a friendly Inquisition

• Breiman’s two culturesInput x “Nature” Output y

III. Connections to statistical practice

• Context• Algorithms• Science• Research

Conclusions

• Read seven important papers

• Attend good breakout sessions

• Think about – how you want to change your STAT 101, – try it, and – come back in 2017 to tell us about it.

The Seven papers

• Horton et al. (2014): ASA curricular guidelines• Breiman (2001): breiman two cultures• Brown and Kass (2009): brown kass statistics• Nolan and Temple-Lang (2010):

nolan temple-lang TAS computing• Wagaman (2014): wagaman multivariate• Dierker et al. (2014): dierker passion driven

• Think about how you want to change your STAT 101, try it, and come back in 2017 to tell us about it.