Content area
Full text
ABSTRACT: The author modified a course entitled Applied Probability and Statistics to engage students in performing their own hypothesis tests in a course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE). This paper discusses the structure of the course, what it does to encourage undergraduate research, and changes one could make to tailor this experience to their own institutional needs.
Keywords: undergraduate research, CUREs, probability, statistics
(ProQuest: ... denotes formulae omitted.)
Introduction
Prior studies that have showcased the benefits of undergraduate research ([WL], [Auch]). In an attempt to expose more students to the research process, the author has adjusted their Applied Probability and Statistics course to provide students with an introductory research experience. The purpose of this article is similar to that of [Ber] and [Cam], in that the author will be describing the experience that they provide to their students, why they have made the choices they have, reflecting on changes that could be made, and speculating on the impact those changes could have. There will also be discussion on how this course fits within the Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) framework provided by [Auch].
Lewis University is a private Roman Catholic and Lasallian university in Romeoville, Illinois. The enrollment is currently around 6,800 total students, with around 4,100 undergraduate students. This course is a required course for Mathematics, Computer Science, and Engineering majors, and is also taken by a variety of other STEM majors. It has a prerequisite of Calculus I, as the topic of continuous random variables requires knowledge of integration. Below is the course description from the course catalog.
"This course introduces the concepts of statistics and probability, including measures of center and spread, correlation coefficients, regression, random variables, discrete and continuous distributions, confidence intervals, and hypothesis testing. Students will also learn to use technology to complete statistical analyses."
It is worth mentioning that this course has gone through several iterations. It used to be that the material from this course was covered over two semesters as a full sequence, with some extra topics in hypothesis testing covered. Since then, the course has been designed to be a stand-alone course, covering more material in the first semester. In this new format, Applied Probability and Statistics started as an inquiry-based learning course, and then morphed...