9352312 Palettas The Statistics Focus Group, sponsored by the Mathematical Association of America's Curriculum Action Project, has recently raised two very important issues concerning undergraduate statistics education. First, traditional lecturing is proving ineffective to convey the basic concepts from probability and statistics. Second, dogmatic teaching of older theoretical frames becomes increasingly less relevant as the advancement in power and sophistication of modern computing leads to fundamental changes in statistical practice. This project is developing a novel mode of instruction which is addressing both of the above concerns. Specifically, the project is fostering active learning by means of laboratory instruction which employs calculation and plotting as means for exploration and learning. At the same time, the project is enriching the scientific content of undergraduate statistics curricula with respect to advances in statistical/mathematical computing and state-of-the-art computer intensive statistical methodology. In summary, Virginia Tech is developing a foundational course to set up the framework to promote the use of structured, partially supervised laboratory instruction. For that purpose, the course is designed to provide the students with a broad introduction to numerical, graphical and symbolic computation, which will be the tools employed by laboratory instruction, as well as with guidance and direction to help them develop the skills which is promoting active learning via the use of calculation and plotting. The laboratories being developed under this project are initiating the change from lecturing to laboratory-instruction along the lines described above. The project is tailored to the needs of the Statistics Majors Program at Virginia Tech, but it is an innovative pilot project with high potential to provide national models of continuing impact. ***
