1. Joan Donohue University of South Carolina
Using Group Projects in a Business Statistics Course: Experiences from the Past and Possibilities for a Future Course
Joan Donohue
University of South Carolina

2. Topics Currently Covered in our Introductory Business Statistics Course
Descriptive Statistics
Probability
Discrete Probability Distributions
Continuous Probability Distributions
Sampling Distributions
Confidence Intervals for Means and Proportions
One-sample Hypothesis Tests for Means and Proportions
Two-sample Hypothesis Tests for Means and Variances (a group project is done at the end of the semester)
Starting Fall 2017, the above course will be taught by the Statistics Department (except the project in #8).
A new required Business Statistics course will be taught in the Business School, covering more advanced topics and including ~3 projects.

3. Potential Topics for the New Required Business Statistics Course
One and Two Sample Hypothesis Tests - brief review st group project – likely the same one used in old course
ANOVA – one and two factor
Simple Linear Regression
Multiple Linear Regression - 2nd project
Time Series and Forecasting
Chi-Square Tests
Non-parametric Tests
Quality Control
Questions:
Use 2-person groups for all projects?
Let students work in the same group for all 3 projects?
Topic for 3rd project?
Should we require students to purchase Mega-Stat or other statistical software instead of using only Excel?
3rd project topic?

4. Excel Data Analysis Tools
Anova: Single Factor Anova: Two-Factor with Replication Anova: Two-Factor Without Replication Correlation Covariance Descriptive Statistics Exponential Smoothing F-test Two-Sample for Variances - Project 1 Fourier Analysis Histogram Moving Average Random Number Generation Rank and Percentile Regression - Project 2 Sampling t-test: Paired Two Sample For Means t-test: Two-Sample Assuming Equal Variances - Project 1 t-test: Two-Sample Assuming Unequal Variances - Project 1 z-test: Two Sample For Means
Chi-square, Non-parametric tests, and Quality Control are not included.
For Time Series, Exponential Smoothing and Moving Averages could be used.
Mega-Stat and other software packages cover all of these topics.

5. Current Project Involving Two-sample Hypothesis Tests
Students work in groups of 2 and can chose their partner.
Otherwise I assign them a partner (usually someone they sit nearby to). Typically the partner situation works out very well – almost no complaints!
5% Proposal Develop a hypothesis that compares two groups of USC students in terms of some characteristic that can be addressed with a 4-item Likert-scaled survey. 20% In-class Presentation Give a 5-6 minute PowerPoint presentation in class. 75% Written Report Write a paper that explains all aspects of the study (appendices include your survey and Excel worksheets).

6. Examples of Hypotheses Submitted by Students
Students who are the first-born child in their family are more ambitious than non-first-borns.
Greek-affiliated students are more politically conservative than other students.
Students with tattoos tend to be more ambitious than other students.
Students who frequently hunt or fish are more patient than other students.
Male students are more likely to make risky financial decisions than female students.
Students who work a job while in school are more responsible than other students.

7. Google Forms Survey

8. Collecting Survey Responses
Students have two choices for data collection:
In-person: Collect data in person at a variety of locations on campus by asking students to fill out their survey on their phone/tablet/computer.
Send their survey link in an to a random sample of students obtained using the on-line university directory. Response rates are typically 10%.
The minimum sample size allowed is 30 but collecting more data is encouraged.

9. Google Forms
Excel File with 3 Downloaded Responses.

10. Correlation Analysis Using Excel

11. F-test on Variances
t-test on Means

12. My Experience with the Project Over the Past 5 Years
Students seem to enjoy doing the project.
Very detailed step-by-step instructions are provided.
ALL students do very good in-class presentations.
Written reports vary in quality, depending upon their understanding of the concepts and their procrastination habits.
I have to spend time re-writing their surveys (at the project proposal stage) and also grading written reports. However, I find it interesting and enjoy getting to know the students better.
Typically I have 2 classes of 56 students, so 56 groups in total.

13. How to Handle ~3 Projects for the New, Advanced Course
Should I start by doing 1 additional project (multiple linear regression) and then add the 3rd project in a later semester ?
Does anyone have suggestions for resources concerning identifying a good MLR project ?
Should the instructor guidance be reduced in the 2nd and 3rd projects ? The reason I hesitate is that grading is easier and quality much better if I provide detailed instructions.
Audience suggestions and comments ? ? ?