Ideas for teaching statistics by using games - Games Trainers Play

  • Thread starter qualitygoddess - 2010
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qualitygoddess - 2010

I recently did some searches for ideas on games trainers play to teach basic statistical concepts. I liked what I saw, but the posts were a couple of years old. I'm sure there are new ideas out there, or perhaps links to established sites that have games.............SO, can you share any ideas for teaching statistics by using games? My audience is undergrad business students (most of whom slept during Intro to Stats and now panic in the class I host).

I already have a simple software tool that shows students the funnel experiment and the quincunx (although that one isn't very good). I also do a version of the red bead experiment by using unopened bags of M&M's, trying to get the factory workers to only produce blue M&M's on a daily basis. The students usually figure this one out too quickly, so I am going to try one Cover's idea of a large bag of various wrapped candies using the process of "grabbed" and "bagged" to show variation.............

Thanks in advance for all your cool ideas.................

--Jodi
 

Steve Prevette

Deming Disciple
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I also teach the Algebra - Stats - Decision Theory sequence and have settled upon the following sequence:

For Stats - The first day we count candy colors. Skittles regular and Skittles sour work. This data can then be used for simple Pareto charting, and also later for tests of hypothesis.

At the time where the Poisson distribution is introduced, I do the Red Bead Experiment. Although the course doesn't teach control charting officially, we do a control chart, and we also use the Red Bead data later in linear regression and ANOVA.

The students do find some value to when they generate the data.

In the past, I have also used Orville Redenbacher popcorn versus another brand, and buttered vs. non-buttered with whatever the current Orville claim is (superiority in unpopped kernels, or volume popped).

For Decision Theory - I have been doing the "Beer Game" and "Win all you can Win". I am a bit unsure on the beer game, as it is tedious and is at least a 90 minute exercise, but most students have liked it.
 

Caster

An Early Cover
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Simple and cheap

qualitygoddess said:
...ideas on games trainers play to teach basic statistical concepts.....--Jodi
Two quick ones


I arrange people from tallest to smallest – nice visual of half a normal curve. It is also a nice break to get people up out of their seats and moving around.


I use 2 dice to build a normal distribution. Everyone throws the dice to make a part. A scribe fills in a histogram on a flip chart to record each throw. We go slow once around the room, then go faster until 50 to 100 throws are collected. It builds a nice little normal curve.

Lots of lessons can be drawn from this. You can show average and spread. You can ask other brain stretchers like: What does a 1 mean? How do you get a 13? What if you want to make 4’s? Where is this process centered? Can you predict the next value? Can you control the next value?
 
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