Statistics Learning with HP38G Graphing Calculator

Abstract

This is an intermediate level workshop on using HP38G graphing calculators as a teaching tool for teaching statistics. The focus of this workshop is to work together with the participants and to demonstrate how statistics course can be taught and learned with the help of HP38G Graphing Calculator. In this workshop, we show how technology can be used to motivate student learning and comprehension in the areas of descriptive and inferential statistics. Some students enroll in a statistics course to fulfill a requirement for their major field of study. Other students enroll in elementary statistics in order to satisfy the requirement for the university. Many students in an elementary statistics course are less than enthusiastic. They view statistics course as computation as well as memorizing algorithms and facts that they quickly forget after the final examination. Now, HP38G graphing calculators can deal with large amounts of data. The tedious and erroneous computations can be replaced by the technology. Students can focus on the purpose and interpretation of analyses rather than on the formulas and calculations involved. Students are freed from the manipulation of formulas in order to perform data analysis. This freedom gives students an opportunity to learn statistics by doing their own data collection, results interpretations, and drawing accurate graphs and plots.