One of the main goals of statistics is to use data to provide evidence in support of an argument. This article will discuss some popular forms of writing assessments currently in use, to demonstrate the differences between the methods for structuring the students' learning to support their arguments with evidence. We share a model, which was originally created to assess students in introductory statistics and has been adapted for the second course in statistics, which takes a unique approach toward assessing the students' understanding of statistical concepts through writing. In this model, students are expected to answer prompts that required them to (1) take a stance on an argument, (2) defend their position with facts given in the prompt, (3) discern the implications that those facts implied, and (4) give a proper conclusion to their argument. We provide examples of a few of the writing assignment prompts used in the course, their intended assessment purpose, and common answers that students gave to these assignments. Supplementary materials for this article are available online.
In 2005, the Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education (GAISE) college report described several recommendations for teaching introductory statistics. This paper discusses how a large multi-section introductory course was redesigned in order to implement these recommendations. The experience described discusses the key sections of the GAISE report and sheds light on the challenges that must be overcome in putting them in place. The result is a course which addresses both the -how to‖ and big picture of statistics.
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