A Course on ''Web-Based Statistics''

Introduction

Motivation

• Statistics and the Web closely related these days
• Previously no course that provided overview on Statistics and the Web
• Provide broad overview on Web-related topics
• Motivate students to further explore the Web (and read related articles)

Course Format

• 4 week summer course
• 15 lectures, 110 minutes each
• Intended audience: advanced undergraduates & early graduates
• Background in Statistics, Mathematics, Education, Computer Science, Administrative Sciences, or Natural Resources
• Attracted audience: 7 students + 2 audits (from Statistics and some of the fields above)
• Electronic classroom with PC for each student
• Course home page, containing all material related to the class
• URL is http://www.math.usu.edu/~symanzik/teaching/2000_stat5810/stat5810.html

Topics

References

• Computing Science and Statistics proceedings
• CompStat proceedings
• ISI Bulletin
• Little published in journals

Activities

• A1: Exploration and presentation of Statistical Summary Pages
• A2: Exploration and presentation of Data Sources on the Web
• A3: Exploration and presentation of Teaching Tools and Applets
• A4: Exploration and presentation of Electronic Textbooks
• A5: Exploration and presentation of Electronic Journals on the Web

Assignments

• H1: Written summary of Activity 1
• H2: Written summary of Activity 2
• H3: Find a data set on the Web and describe how you succeeded (based on Activity 2)
• H4: Written summary of Activity 3
• H5: Written summary of Activity 4
• H6: Preparation and delivery of an ''electronic introductory statistics'' (18 minute) lecture and evaluation of the other short lectures
• H7: Written summary of software Web sites
• H8: Written summary of a paper on the Web and (specialized) statistical applications
• H9: Preparation and presentation of a 45 to 50 minute introduction of a Web-based statistical software package and evaluation of other presentations
• H10: Solve simple questions using the Web-based software packages introduced in class and Homework 9
• H11: Written summary of Activity 5
• H12: Written summary of a paper on electronic / Web-based data collection
• Answers to Homeworks available on the Web

Projects

• 1 paper submitted to Computational Statistics
• 1 paper in preparation for JSE or American Statistician

Feedback

• Intro Survey

  Questions: Info about the course Previous experience with Web Future expectations

  Responses: Flyers in Stat Department or advisor Used Web for literature search and fun To use Web more for statistical applications (software + data)

• Midterm Survey

  Questions: Expectations met so far Format of the course Amount of homework and reading What to change

  Responses: In most cases yes (if any) OK (some complaints about group work) Somewhat too much Reduce homework and reading assignments

  
  
• Final (official) Course Evaluation (on a scale 1 - 6)
  • Overall quality of the course: 5.1
  • Instructor's effectiveness: 5.0
  • Comments:
    • + : Interaction, in-class presentations, learned more than expected.
    • - : Too short time, too much work outside classroom.