Introduction

Introduction

“Introductory Statistics follows scope and sequence requirements of a one-semester introduction to statistics course and is geared toward students majoring in fields other than math or engineering. The text assumes some knowledge of intermediate algebra and focuses on statistics application over theory. Introductory Statistics includes innovative practical applications that make the text relevant and accessible, as well as collaborative exercises, technology integration problems, and statistics labs.”

Pedagogical foundation and features

• Examples are placed strategically throughout the text to show students the step-by-step process of interpreting and solving statistical problems. To keep the text relevant for students, the examples are drawn from a broad spectrum of practical topics, including examples about college life and learning, health and medicine, retail and business, and sports and entertainment.
• Your Turn! (Try It) practice problems immediately follow many examples and give students the opportunity to practice as they read the text. They are usually based on practical and familiar topics, like the Examples themselves.
• Collaborative Exercises provide an in-class scenario for students to work together to explore presented concepts.
• Section and Formula Reviews are provided at the end of each Section to summarize key points and formulas that are needed
• Practice and Homework (as Section Practice) is provided at the end of each Section to give the students problems at various degrees of difficulty while also including real-world scenarios to engage students.

“Traditional Statistics” versus Technology

The main sections of the text follows “traditional statistics” teaching methods by placing a significant emphasis on the development and practical application of formulas, so that students have a deeper understanding of their interpretation and application of data. This means throughout the text there is (1) expanded discussions of intimidating formulas, (2) a reliance on statistical tables for the process of finding probabilities, and (3) adjustments to explanations on doing problems the “traditional” way.

However, it is also widely known that the use of technology (graphing calculators, Excel, etc.) is used to cover the concepts in statistics, so as an added feature there are Using Technology Sections at the end of each chapter that have the following:

• Using the TI-83, 83+, 84, 84+ Calculator step-by-step instructions to input problems into the calculator with select problems from the Sections and videos for using the graphing calculator
• Additional Technology Tools section with videos on using other technology options to solve problems
• Section Practice to give the students problems to try using the graphing calculator and additional technology tools

Coverage and scope

About This Book

This textbook was created through Connecting the Pipeline: Libraries, OER, and Dual Enrollment from Secondary to Postsecondary, a $1.3 million project funded by LOUIS: The Louisiana Library Network and the Institute of Library and Museum Services. This project supports the extension of access to high-quality post-secondary opportunities to high school students across Louisiana and beyond by creating materials that can be adopted for dual enrollment environments. Dual enrollment is the opportunity for a student to be enrolled in high school and college at the same time.

The cohort-developed OER course materials are released under a license that permits their free use, reuse, modification and sharing with others. This includes a corresponding course available in Moodle and Canvas that can be imported to other platforms. For access/questions, contact Affordable Learning Louisiana.

If you are adopting this textbook, we would be glad to know of your use via this brief survey.

Cover Image

The cover image is “Color Coded” by Hopeless_Wonderer and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED).