Workshop Statistics: Discovery with Data, Fourth Edition

Preface

Shorn of all subtlety and led naked out of the protective fold of educational research literature, there comes a sheepish little fact: lectures don't work nearly as well as many of us would like to think.

—George Cobb

Statistics teaching can be more effective if teachers determine what it is they really want students to know and to do as a result of their course, and then provide activities designed to develop the performance they desire.

—Joan Garfield

Guidelines for Introductory Statistics

When Workshop Statistics: Discovery with Data appeared in 1996, it was the first book to embrace a constructivist approach for introductory statistics. Rather than describing and explaining statistics through exposition alone, Workshop Statistics offered activities designed to lead students to discover statistical concepts, explore statistical principles, and apply statistical techniques. In addition to its focus on active learning, Workshop Statistics emphasized developing students' understanding of statistical concepts and their ability to analyze real data, integrating technology to help achieve both of these goals. In these respects, we aimed to provide students and instructors with a resource that supported the 1992 recommendations of the American Statistical Association/ Mathematical Association of America (ASA/MAA) Joint Committee on Undergraduate Statistics:

• Teach statistical thinking
• Employ more data and concepts, less theory and fewer recipes
• Foster active learning

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