The investigators on this project are developing, implementing, and evaluating interactive Web-based games and corresponding investigative laboratory modules (labs) to effectively teach statistical thinking and the process of scientific inquiry to undergraduate students. Each game-based lab presents a research question in the context of a case study and encourages students to follow a complete process of statistical analysis. These materials consist of one- or two-day activities designed for introductory college courses as well as more complex projects geared toward upper level undergraduate courses. The game-based labs provide early opportunities for students to experience the role of a research scientist and to understand how the field of statistics helps advance scientific knowledge. The intellectual merit of this project lies in its contribution to the scholarship of statistics education by combining cutting-edge game-based technology with realistic research problems to foster statistical thinking at multiple stages of a student's academic career. The approach embraces recommendations from the Mathematical Association of America and the American Statistical Association that encourage students to collect data, determine an appropriate technique for analysis, use technology, perform the analysis, make inferences, interpret and then present the results. The broader impacts of the project are felt through its creation of a new educational model that holds strong potential to influence the direction of statistics education. In particular the game-based labs enable the exploration of individualized research questions and just-in-time feedback that students recognize as directly related to the goals within their game. Providing students with intriguing real-world problems that demonstrate the intellectual content and broad applicability of statistics as a discipline encourages students to consider a career in statistics or to incorporate statistical thinking into any career.
