Open Pedagogy Assignments
Assignments in which students use their agency and creativity to create knowledge artifacts that can support their own learning, their classmates’ learning, and the learning of students around the world. (See this peer-reviewed article for more details.)
Each of the assignments on this page is aligned to a learning outcome of Concepts in Statistics and we’ve identified the module where the reading appears. All of the assignments can be created with a cell phone camera or any video recording device, Google or Word documents, and your learning management system.
Assignment: What’s the hardest part, and how would you explain it better?
Learning Outcomes 3.1-3.5: Examining Relationships: Quantitative Data
In the module on Examining Relationships: Quantitative Data, you worked through several approaches to summarizing and analyzing the relationship between two quantitative variables. For this assignment, you are going to reflect on which concept(s) in this module were most difficult for you to learn.
The product of your work will help future students learn about some of the most difficult concepts in the course. Thus, think of your audience as friends who are taking Concepts in Statistics in the next term. You want to help them understand a concept in the course that was particularly difficult for you.
First, identify a concept from this module that you struggled to learn regarding quantitative data in statistics. Review the content in the module and anything further you learned in class. Consider focusing on one of the sections in the module:
- Scatterplots
- Linear Relationships
- Association vs Causation
- Linear Regression
- Assessing the Fit of a Line
Second, think of how you would explain the concept in your own words to a friend who is also taking the course. Keep these questions in mind:
- What did you miss when you first tried to grasp the concept? In other words, did you have to read something twice?
- How would you phrase the idea or concept differently? In other words, how would you explain the concept in your own words?
Third, using your cell phone or any other recording device, create a short video explaining the topic in your own words. You don’t have to edit or create a professional-grade film. You’ve most likely have done this type of recording already on social media, so feel free to use the same informal conversational tone. Use additional images or tips that would have been helpful for you.
Lastly, share the video with your instructor. After grading and with your permission, your video may appear in future sections of the course to improve other students’ learning.
A Note To Teachers: The first time your students complete this assignment, choose the best ones and ask students for permission to include them in future sections. Just post the videos in the appropriate module in the LMS. The idea is to have students generate content that other students can learn from in this assignment. You may want to provide parameters such as time limit, use of examples, etc.