Use of Excel Laboratories in Undergraduate Elementary Statistics

The American Association of Colleges and Universities (AACU) recommends a set of 10 high impact practices that are known to improve student learning and retention, including collaborative assignments/projects and writing intensive coursework. By combining these approaches through paired, in-class work, in-class laboratories can be used to enhance student learning in elementary statistics classrooms. Our research uses a quasi-experimental design to compare the use of in-class laboratories against traditional teaching methods. Specifically, professors were randomly assigned into the treatment (laboratory) and control group. Pre- and post-assessments of both statistical concepts and attitudes towards the statistics field were administered to the experimental cohort of 200 students. We will share the results of the experiments and made recommendations as to the structuring of the elementary statistics coursework based on those results.