CACTUS 1.0

Computer-Assisted Curriculum for Teaching Undergraduate Statistics

Tired of spending half your lectures and lab sections explaining computer commands, and the other half explaining the output?

The CACTUS system is the perfect solution for instructors who want to emphasize concepts and interpretive skills. Instructors just like you designed this self-paced computer-assisted lab supplement with two goals in mind: to put statistical tools such as graphical analysis and computational experimentation to work teaching "ideas," and to let students with varying skills and backgrounds take control over their own learning experience. The fully Windows-based environment is intuitive, easy to learn, and maybe even fun for students! For instructors, it offers all the advantages of portability and data interchange -- you're back in control of your instructional agenda.

FEATURES

• Basic tutorials: The most visual approach to helping your students build understanding, featuring pop-up anatomy lessons, slide shows, and other explanatory material. Prepare your own "statistical guided tours" that present the kind of data that you want your students to know about.
• Interactive demonstrations turn statistical topics into a "discovery museum": Kids on seesaws, barking dogs, tables that describe themselves, trial-and-error regressions, and other things to make your students think!
• Intuitive data analysis tools: The ultimate three tools for visualizing data -- stem-and-leaf plots, tables, and scatter-plots -- in self-contained, fully interactive, intuitive, menu-driven windows. No more command-window-to-output-window follies, and no more "professional" features to distract from core pedagogical goals.
• Advanced material: Follow-up topics such as efficiency and robustness, adjusting marginals, sampling weights, simulating sampling behavior, residual analysis, and more.
• Exercises: Students use the same interactive data analysis tools on real data; exercises emphasize conceptual and interpretive competence.

CORE MODULES

The CACTUS "system" has four basic modules, each with a progression of lessons that match most textbooks. You assign the lessons you want in the order you need.

Frequency Distributions and Descriptive Statistics --
Frequency concepts, stem-and-leaf plots. Alternate measures of level and spread, distributional shape. Weighted measures, robustness.

Sampling and Statistical Inference --
Simple random samples. sampling behavior. Normal distribution. Confidence intervals, hypothesis tests.

Cross-Tabulation --
Laying out and reading the basic cross-tab table. Self-tests. Adjusting marginals for comparative projection, simulating chi-square.

Linear Regression --
Regression lines and residuals. Iterative, trial-and-error fitting helps students see the "least squares" idea in action. Variability of the regression slope.

THE ULTIMATE IN INSTRUCTOR CUSTOMIZABILITY

• All lessons modular -- you determine order and coverage.
• Insert your own slide-show guided tours, from any statistical package and using any data.
• Use provided exercises, modify them, or design you own.
• ANSI data and text interfaces mean you can use your own favorite Windows-based word processor and statistical package to prepare data sets and exercises.

Watch this page for...

• Download access to complete program -- we're distributing this beta-test version for free! We have already done extensive field testing. You are welcome to test any or all modules in your class.
• Complete program documentation.
• Ongoing dialog/commentary with test sites.

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