In this talk, we will explore some strategies for integrating statistical concepts alongside Common Core math content and how the math, statistics, and data science content can reinforce each other and improve student engagement. We will also discuss pros and cons on the role of technology for doing so, while considering what skills are essential for students to develop as they move to higher level courses as well as across disciplines.

Our lessons tackle authentic problems with real data and real implications. The math isn’t a side-show. Rather, the math helps students gain genuine insight into the topics our lessons cover.

In many statistics courses, graphs are discussed in a unit on descriptive statistics, and then are revisited when students study inference in the context of linear regression.   But graphs can also be very useful in teaching experimental design and inference concepts outside of linear regression.  In this session we'll see examples of assignments that use graphs in these ways, along with some sample student work.  All of the relevant course content is part of the AP Statistics syllabus.

Desmos activities are powerful in their ability to surface student thinking and spark interesting and productive classroom conversations. In this double session, participants will peel back the layers of the Desmos Activity Builder by viewing it through the lens of the 5 Practices for Orchestrating Math Conversations to promote positive mathematics learning experiences and healthy dialogue in the math classroom. In the first half, we’ll experience a Desmos activity together and discuss teacher tools and facilitation techniques. In the second half, participants will select from three differentiated breakout sessions to choose their own adventure, whether they’d like to learn more about: (1) features of the Desmos Activity Builder and graphing calculator; (2) how to create Desmos activities that utilize Computational Layer (CL) not only to make student thinking visible but to encourage rough draft thinking and revision of student solutions based on CL feedback; or (3) how to collect and display student inputs using Computation Layer (CL) and the “aggregate” function. Participants of all Desmos background knowledge are welcome and encouraged to join us as we learn alongside each other. Whether you use Activity Builder regularly or it’s a new tool to you, there will be something for everyone!

This session will introduce teachers to Skew The Script - a site that provides educators with free, socially relevant math lessons. Together, we'll explore the AP Stats offerings, including lessons with data on evaluating NBA players, online dating, food deserts, gerrymandering, and much more. We'll discuss how to use such activities to boost learning, engagement, and critical thinking, all in a non-partisan way.

Exponential growth is the natural language of population biology. Though this and other growth laws are deterministic in nature, they effectively summarize the collective behavior of many inherently random processes. We will explore some simple analog and in-silico probability games to re-discover these classical observations of population growth.

It is back!  The ever popular ArtSpace, led by Christine Belledin, assisted by Amber Smith and Ryan Severance - all from the NCSSM Math Department.  ArtSpace will provide participants a place to explore connections between mathematics and art and try out a few activities that they could use with students in their own classroom. 

Explore Backed by Data, a project-based design challenge that empowers students to shed light on overlooked or misunderstood stories using data and the power of social media. This challenge is part of a set of secondary challenges called the Design & Pitch Challenges in STEM, which use entrepreneurship to increase engagement and support mathematics learning. Come join us to have some fun with data!

A famous study published in 1968 entitled “Further Investigation of the Transmission of Arbitrary Environmental Information between Bottle-Nose Dolphins” explored whether two dolphins (Doris and Buzz) could communicate abstract ideas to one another. We will use this study to motivate student engagement in experimental design and simulation. Finally, the data drawn from the simulation will lead students to a surprising inference.