Teaching statistics to non-mathematics majors: Interdisciplinary integration with R and EDA

Abstract

In this paper, we consider statistics as a college level subject from a number of different perspectives. The paper defines statistics, states the goals of introductory statistics courses, and outlines different directions of the course. The paper sketches the main topics of the course and discusses the necessity of real life examples and exercises targeting specific majors. It is a necessity for students to be able to explore data before using standard statistical methods. A number of tools are considered to facilitate work on the problems and exploration process. We argue that R is one of the most appropriate tools for the task, and suggest a way to introduce R into the course as a means of implementing this approach and allowing students to gain a better hands-on experience with real life examples.