STATCOM P-12 Outreach

Activities

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Kids at SpringFest2006



The STATCOM P-12 Outreach Program is an effort to increase interest and achievement in statistics at all pre-college levels in Indiana. The program is run by Statistics in the Community (STATCOM), a volunteer community outreach organization directed and staffed by graduate students in the Department of Statistics.

The mission of the STATCOM P-12 Outreach team is to:
  • Educate students about the connections between statistics, the sciences, and their everyday lives.
  • Increase student enthusiasm toward mathematics and statistics by showing them how these disciplines are used in the community.
  • Help young people become more literate in the sciences by giving them the tools to feel comfortable exploring scientific phenomena and expressing their findings.
In our commitment to this mission, the STATCOM P-12 Outreach team provides the following services:
  • Presentations: STATCOM members present scientific studies and/or personal experiences that cater to topics discussed in the typical science or math classroom.
  • Mentoring: We provide aid for students in collecting, testing, and analyzing data for science fair projects.
  • Fun classroom activities: Students participate in mathematical/ statistical "games" as a supplementary tool to help them learn about probability and mathematics.
  • Other suggestions/requests are accepted.
Services for Math Teachers:
  • Present fun classroom activities that cover topics listed in the Indiana Academic Standards. Topics include:
    Data Analysis and Probability
    Problem Solving
  • Present information about what statisticians do and/or how people use mathematical or statistical skills to solve real life problems.
  • Other suggestions welcome.
Benefits:
  • Students will experience a fun activity, while learning about a math topic in the process.
  • Students will see an outside perspective about the importance of learning mathematics and statistics skills.
  • Students will see how the skills they are learning can be used by real people to solve real problems.
Services for Science Teachers:
  • In the beginning of the fall semester:
    Present information explaining basic principles of:
    • Good experimental design
    • Appropriate calculations/analyses to perform on data
    • Effective ways to present results
  • A few weeks before science fair projects are due:
    Consulting session where students can ask individual questions about their data analysis and display.
Benefits:
  • Students will receive information about scientific reasoning, which supports what they learn in class.
  • Students will be encouraged to think about the issues they will face when working on their projects prior to starting on them.
  • Students will have an opportunity to ask individual questions about the appropriate ways to display their data.
To contact us, please send e-mail to: statcom-p12outreach@stat.purdue.edu.