Introductory Statistics Helping undergraduates fulfill their quantitative reasoning gen ed requirement one quest at a time

Overview A role-playing game for introductory statistics Based on ClassCraft (www.classcraft.com) Individual and group quests tied to course content Students placed in teams, and teams can help each other and work together, or not Game points are connected to students’ grades

Game Objectives Primary Objective: The point of the game is, at the most basic level, for students to pass the class having learned the course material, despite math fears or lack of background knowledge or preparation for introductory statistics. Secondary Objectives: keep students engaged provide opportunities for remediation for students who fall behind (no fatal grades) provide enrichment to students who find they are ready to go a little further than the course content (encourage advanced learning) promote diversity and inclusion in the learning process The last goal is one that is not commonly included as a course objective in a research methods course, but the game really helps with this. I have found it also improves the classroom atmosphere and reduces student anxiety.

Evaluating Effectiveness of the Game Previously used a pre-/post- survey on students' attitudes towards statistics (SATS-36) If chosen, I will also include an assessment of course content (pre-/post-) to measure how much students learned when using the game I will seek a colleague not using the game but teaching the same course to use the same assessment for comparison My own research has shown that active learning improves student outcomes, both in learning and attitudes towards STEM courses, for all students, but particularly for underrepresented groups such as underrepresented minorities, rural students, and first generation college students.

The Build Build a game modeled after ClassCraft Tailor it to UNC-CH Incorporate individual and group quests (see examples in ClassCraft) Include boss battles for in-class review (see examples in ClassCraft) Include a backchannel for team chatting during class activities and outside of class Tailor it to UNC-CH Connectivity to Sakai gradebook Connectivity / useable with classroom response system such as iClicker or PollEverywhere Must Haves: iOS and Android platform capability in addition to web browser access Quiz function similar to Sakai with questions automatically graded and feedback given immediately upon completion.