The aim of the project is to revise our introductory statistics courses in order to teach them as laboratory science courses emphasizing interactive computer graphics and real data. Some sections will focus on the sciences, some on economics, and some on sociology and political science.The major purchases will be: new statistical software; seventeen 486, 50MHz PCs with high quality graphics for running the new software; and a large disk to link to an existing file server for holding many data sets and student work on a wide variety of topics. The purchases will equip a statistics laboratory in new space provided by the construction this year of a building for computing, mathematics, and statistics.Inexpensive, powerful personal computers now make it possible to bring into the undergraduate lab iterative methods for describing data, resampling methods for inference, improved methods for testing fit of models, and color graphics to enhance intuitive understanding and pattern recognition. The large disk will be tied to a file server now on hand and networked to the student's computers, giving students access to a data library and software, and linking them throughout this campus and campuses nationwide.This project will establish an interactive learning environment where students will work in groups to pose questions, analyze data, discuss and especially to write about their conjectures, observations, and conclusions. Using real data will provide the excitement of discovery, will connect statistics to their real-life experience and other courses, and will demonstrate the usefulness and power of data analysis.
