Author(s):
The Discourse to Improve Students’ Conceptual Understanding of Statistics in Inclusive Settings (DISCUS-IS) project aims to systematically investigate the affordances of the simulation-based inference approach to the post-secondary, algebra-based introductory statistics course for students, particularly students with learning and attention disabilities and others who have been excluded from scholarship of the discipline, “Students in the Margins.” Curry College has a student population that we consider to be neuro-diverse, or including and inclusive of sizeable proportions of students with documented learning and attention differences. This is, in part, due to the integration of Curry’s Program for the Advancement of Learning (PAL), PAL serves academically capable students with specific learning disabilities, executive function challenges, and/or ADHD in heterogeneous classes that include students with documented disabilities and those without. Additionally, as a less-selective institution with an acceptance rate greater than 80%, Curry College has a high population of students with varied mathematics backgrounds and experiences. Thus, it has become critical at our institution to identify and implement a statistics curriculum that supported students, particularly Students in the Margins, to develop a robust understanding of statistical inference and helped them transfer their understanding to authentic contexts. The question that guides this work is: In what ways are Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles exhibited in the features of the curriculum and in the varied instructional practices that instructors use when implementing the curriculum, and which features do students identify as supportive of their learning? Preliminary results from the first six months of the DISCUS-IS project will be shared. As the project progresses, the project will create a professional development compendium for post-secondary instructors of statistics that will be disseminated widely. This resource will fulfill a need for content-specific support for the professional growth of statistics instructors. It will include resources to build instructors’ repertoire of instructional practices for the introductory statistics class. Recognizing the important role that students’ conceptions – both valid and developing – play in the discourse-based classroom, the compendium will also feature video episodes of students’ thinking so that instructors can more readily identify and respond to their own students’ conceptions as they happen in the classroom. Students at Curry College attend heterogeneous, inclusive classes that include students with documented learning disabilities, and those without. While our institution may be unique in the greater incidence of students with documented learning differences, what can be learned here is transferable to most other institutions, as the prevalence of students with learning disabilities in higher education continues to grow (National Center for Education Statistics, 2019). Curricular and pedagogical innovations that are particularly effective for Students in the Margins can promote educational success for the greatest possible proportion of students and can allow for equitable access for students to develop statistical understanding. Since content in introductory statistics is fundamental for full participation in civic life and is a gatekeeper to STEM careers, if this curriculum does make mastery of the content more accessible to all types of learners, then we can promote a more equitable society.
Coauthors
Laura Callis, Curry College, Milton, MA
