This book is a must for anyone who teaches statistics, particularly those who teach beginning statistics - mathematicians, social scientists, engineers - as well as graduate students and others new to the field. The authors focus on topics central to the teaching of statistics for beginners, and other expositions that are guided by the current state of statistical research and practice. Statistical practice has changed radically during the past generation under the impact of ever cheaper and more accessible computing power. Beginning instruction has lagged behind the evolution of the field. Software now enables students to shortcut unpleasant calculations, but this is only the most obvious consequences of changing statistical practice, the content and emphases of statistics instruction still needs much rethinking. This volume assembles nine new essays on important topics in present-day statistics at the college with various levels of mathematics preparation, and from diverse disciplinary backgrounds. Accordingly the chapters present modern perspectives on central aspects of statistics and emphasize the conceptual content that should accompany all varieties of beginning instruction. The books opens with a contemporary overview of statistics as the science of data - a view much broader than the "inference from data" emphasized by much traditional teaching. The next two chapters discuss the philosophy and some of the tools used in data analysis and describe the impact of computing on data analysis and inference and its implication for teaching. The book conlucdes with introductions to diagnostics and to the alternative approach embodied in resistent and robut procedures. -- from back cover.

The twenty papers in the book give an overview of research analysis, practical experience, and informed opinion about the role of visualization in teaching and learning mathematics, especially at the undergraduate level. Visualization, in its broadest level. Visualization, in its broadest sense, is as old as mathematics, but progress in computer graphics has generated a renaissance of interest in visual representations and visual thinking in mathematics.

Addressing the need for tools to train college mathematics instructors in both basic teaching skills and innovative methods, this work describes training and mentoring activities that have been used in a variety of settings with new instructors, including graduate student teaching assistants, undergraduate tutors, graders, and lab assistants, as well as faculty. The book offers ideas for the structure of an integrated program of professional development, support material for a brief pre-semester orientation session, material for a semester-long program of weekly training meetings, and procedures and forms for conducting a system of class visits and feedback. This work lacks a subject index. DeLong is affiliated with Taylor University. Winter is affiliated with Harvard University. Annotation copyrighted by Book News Inc., Portland, OR.

This guide covers the story of trigonometry. It is a swift overview, but it is complete in the context of the content discussed in beginning and advanced high-school courses. The purpose of these notes is to supplement and put into perspective the material of any course on the subject you may have taken or are currently taking. (These notes will be tough going for those encountering trigonometry for the very first time!)

Publisher description: This book looks at the wide variety of ways in which math, statistics, and math education teachers have incorporated service-learning into their courses. These projects are not just stand-alone community service initiatives, but rather they specifically target the improvement of mathematics skills and insights of the college students in the courses with which they are associated. In some cases, the projects are the major focus of the courses. In others, they may range from an essential component to one of several options. The book also speculates about heretofore untapped possibilities for service-learning, even including courses in pure mathematics. College faculty often may not fully appreciate the wide range of support mechanisms for such ventures even within their own institutions, so the book includes a lengthy chapter on the details of converting a rough idea to a solid action plan, sometimes even picking up financial support and other often unexpected benefits along the way. Creative teachers rarely implement a project in exactly the same way as a colleague might have, so the emphasis here is to display a wide range of successful projects in order to encourage readers to develop some of their own.