Dear Brian,
I firmly agree with you. Indeed, I'm working with some colleagues at
the ASA (American Statistical Association) on trying to really broaden
the groups that are impacted by the use of R and data science, far
beyond the usually K-12 contact with statistics.
Perhaps we don't have to bother everyone with such discussions. I wonder
if interested parties would like to have a sub-discussion about this
with my colleagues at the ASA? I'm actually trying to build some
momentum in these very areas. Would you like to (directly) discuss
further? I've been working on an initiative in this vein lately.
P.S. I see that you are a professor of wildlife and statistics.
Although I'm in a statistics department, we have several students
working on projects related to forestry and natural resources at Purdue.
Mark
Mark Daniel Ward, Ph.D.
Associate Professor and Undergraduate Chair
Department of Statistics
Purdue University
150 North University Street
West Lafayette, IN 47907-2067
[email protected]
phone: (765) 496-9563
On 5/17/16 5:45 PM, Brian Dennis wrote:
Hi fellow R-philes,
My contention is that R is not just for statistics. Rather, R can be used
in math and science classes in colleges, community colleges, and even high
schools, to replace most uses of graphing calculators and proprietary
spreadsheets.
Various aspects of R seem to have immense potential for helping STEM
(science, technology, engineering, math) education:
(1) With R, scientific calculations and graphs are fun and easy to produce.
A student using R can focus on the scientific and mathematical concepts
without having to pore through a manual of daunting calculator keystroke
instructions. The students would be analyzing data and depicting equations
just as scientists are doing in labs all over the world.
(2) R could be learned once and used across a wide variety of STEM courses,
promoting the integration of STEM subjects that has been much discussed in
principle but elusive in practice.
(3) R is now probably the most universally available computational tool
(aside from counting on fingers). Many students access a computer to use
social media, and most schools and colleges have institutional machines (of
varying quality) available to the students. Versions of R exist for most
platforms (going back 10 years or more), so R could be made instantly
available to every student in every course.
(4) R invites collaboration. Students can work in groups to conduct
projects in R, build R scripts, and improve each others’ work. Results on a
computer screen are easier to view in groups than on a calculator. At home,
students can work cooperatively online with R. Every new class can build
new accomplishments upon those of previous classes. R builds on itself.
(5) R skills follow a student to college and professional life. College
statistics and advanced science courses are increasingly teaching R. R
skills are a becoming a valuable professional credential in sci-tech, data
analytic, and finance firms.
(6) R tutorial websites and videos for beginners are now widespread and
free.
I have taught R as a guest teacher in 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th grades
(& am a university statistician/scientist by profession). The kids love it
and take to it with gusto. R seems to them like a real important thing
when they produce, all by themselves, beautiful graphs of important
concepts.
Toward the goal of popularizing R as a general product for scientific
graphs and calculations, I wrote a book, "The R Student Companion". It is
an inexpensive paperback modeled in a "lab manual" format. Naturally, so
many free instructional resources are available for R that instructors can
bring R into courses without needing extra books. However, my book is
targeted at a high school level audience, having just a little algebra, and
it contains real, compelling scientific examples and computational
exercises and projects. The value-added convenience, and the fact that the
book ports across many courses, seem to me to make the book a bargain.
Publisher website here:
https://www.crcpress.com/The-R-Student-Companion/Dennis/p/book/9781439875407
Amazon here:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Student-Companion-Brian-Dennis/dp/1439875405
Read reviews here:
http://webpages.uidaho.edu/~brian/reviews_of_RSC.pdf
Readin', Rritin', Rithmetic, and R!
Enjoy!
Brian Dennis
Professor of Wildlife and Statistics
University of Idaho
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