Statistical literacy is important. I love examples of folks using statistical concepts without being snobby statistical gatekeepers. For instance, see jargon-free statistical literacy that helps people make important decisions about their children's health or informs the immigration debate . As stats teachers, I think we are remiss if we don't talk about political polling in our classes. At least a little bit. Here is a brief, nonpartisan interview about political polling you can use in class to see whether students can identify the concepts they've learned. Here is a short NPR i nterview o n how to think properly about political polling. If you use the interview in class, you could ask your students to identify the statistics and research methods mentioned. I clocked margin of error, sampling error, and research methodology evaluation. If using an audio interview isn't your thing, check out t his summary piece from NPR, based on the...
The sum of the parts is greater than the whole? Nathan Yau's article on creating readable, useful graphs is a perfectly reasonable list of how to create a proper graph. The content is sound. So, that's good.
However, the accompanying images and captions are hilarious. They will show your students how to make not-awful charts.
However, the accompanying images and captions are hilarious. They will show your students how to make not-awful charts.
