Education Commons^™

Combating Anti-Statistical Thinking Using Simulation-Based Methods Throughout The Undergraduate Curriculum, Nathan L. Tintle, Beth Chance, George Cobb, Soma Roy, Todd Swanson, Jill Vanderstoep

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The use of simulation-based methods for introducing inference is growing in popularity for the Stat 101 course, due in part to increasing evidence of the methods ability to improve students’ statistical thinking. This impact comes from simulation-based methods (a) clearly presenting the overarching logic of inference, (b) strengthening ties between statistics and probability/mathematical concepts, (c) encouraging a focus on the entire research process, (d) facilitating student thinking about advanced statistical concepts, (e) allowing more time to explore, do, and talk about real research and messy data, and (f) acting as a firmer foundation on which to build statistical intuition. Thus, …

Regarding Homework…, David J. Mulder

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"Why do teachers give homework? I was a middle school classroom teacher for the first eleven years of my teaching practice. The longer I taught, the less homework I assigned. That’s not to say I didn’t give students assignments–but they rarely had to do them at home. I’m curious about how teachers use homework, and what role it really plays in students’ learning."

Posting from and education professor about homework and if there's compelling evidence that it improves learning from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ …

Common Core: Good Or Bad?, Ed Starkenburg

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"What comes to your mind when someone mentions the Common Core (or otherwise known as the Common Core State Standards)? Do you appreciate them? Are you scared of them? Suspicious? The Common Core is an aspect of education that typically gets a strong response today when the topic enters conversations. As an educator, I find that many people respond negatively based on what they have heard about the standards from others rather than based on facts. However, because these standards have a political nature, it’s often hard to determine what the facts and truth are regarding this set of curriculum …

Standardized Testing: Help Or Harm?, Steve Holtrop

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"Outside of the halls of education, we have many real-world ways to test knowledge and skills. If we want to teach someone to bake a cake or do a J-stroke in a canoe, we don’t give a paper and pencil test – we look for successful demonstrations of the skills. Even where we need a paper test for some head knowledge stuff, like when we get a driver’s license, the road test is the real proof of the pudding. In school settings, then, what we really need are valid measures of what students know and can do. A well-rounded toolbox …