team of PIs (for grants listed at bottom of page)
Dennis K. Pearl (http://stat.psu.edu/people/dkp13) is
Professor of Statistics at Pennsylvania State University, having recently moved
there from Ohio State. Dennis has directed CAUSE
since 2002. He has authored many national grants and papers in both statistics
and statistics education. A recent interview of him is HERE.
Lawrence M. Lesser (http://www.math.utep.edu/Faculty/lesser/)
is
Professor of Mathematical Sciences at The University of Texas at El Paso, where
he also has directed the Center for Excellence
in Teaching and Learning. His statistics education research has led to
several awards, service on editorial boards, and textbook co-authorship. At
UTEP, he works with UTEP Music Dept. faculty Dominic Dousa and Steve Haddad on the NSF SMILES
grant and worked with Rey
Reyes from UTEP College of Education on the NSF UPLIFT grant. A recent
story on him is HERE.
John J. Weber (http://depts.gpc.edu/~clamcse/faculty.html)
is a tenured Associate Professor of Mathematics at Perimeter College at Georgia
State University (called Georgia Perimeter College until Jan. 6, 2016), where
he has been teaching advanced mathematics since 2003 and won its Excellence in
Teaching Award in 2016. His current
research interests include the effect of using fun on student learning and
anxiety in the statistics classroom, the effective use of technology in
post-secondary mathematics, and how to engage students through inquiry-based
learning. A recent story on him is HERE.
PAPERS/TALKS
including
one or more of the authors on fun in math/statistics education, whether or not
it was part of the grants; major entries are in boldface
Gregory J. Crowther, Jason Wessels, Lawrence M. Lesser, Jennifer L. Breckler (conditionally accepted). Is memorization the name
of the game? Undergraduates’ perceptions of the usefulness of physiology songs.
(related session at https://www.causeweb.org/voices/2019/session/1-4)
Pearl, D.K. & Lesser, L.
M. (under review). Statistical Edutainment: Fun with Confidence. Teaching Statistics,
webinar on SMILES for CAUSEweb
(fall 2019)
Lesser, L.M., Pearl, D.K., Weber, J.J., Dousa, D.M., Carey,
R.P., & Haddad, S.A. (author accepted version published online October 9,
2019). Developing Interactive Educational Songs for Introductory Statistics. Journal of Statistics Education, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10691898.2019.1677533
Greg Crowther & Larry
Lesser, Just Add Water? A Conversation about Resources to Support Songs, videoposter and discussion at VOICES (Sept. 22-23, 2019), https://www.causeweb.org/voices/2019/session/3-1
Lesser, L.M. & Pearl,
D.K. (Autumn 2019; appeared online August 7, 2019).
Statistical edutainment: Reversing comparisons. Teaching Statistics, 41(3), 118-122. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/test.12203
D.K. Pearl, L.M. Lesser,
& J.J. Weber (July 29, 2019, 10:30-12:30),
“Teaching introductory statistics with web-based interactive song
activities”, contributed
poster (#302999), 2019 Joint Statistical Meetings, Denver, CO
D.K. Pearl & L.M. Lesser
(July 28, 2019, 8:30-10:30pm), “Educational Fun at Your Fingertips!”, invited
e-poster at Opening Mixer (abstract 307444), 2019 Joint Statistical
Meetings, Denver, CO
D.K. Pearl, L.M. Lesser, & J.J. Weber (May 18, 2019). Stats and Beyond: Using Song in STEM. Physical poster and webpage for 2019 United States Conference on Teaching Statistics, https://www.causeweb.org/cause/uscots/uscots19/posters/2-01 and https://rstudio.aws.science.psu.edu:3838/rpc5102/uscots19/posters/2-01/ and
Pearl/Lesser/Weber (May
2019). Peer-reviewed breakout session, “Break into SMILES: exploring web-based
‘interactive’ songs”, 2019 United States Conference on Teaching Statistics,
https://www.causeweb.org/cause/uscots/uscots19/breakout/4D
Wentao Yan*, Dennis Pearl, & Matt Beckman* (May 17,
2019). Assessing student conceptual competencies using Bayesian Networks.
Peer-reviewed physical
poster for 2019 United States Conference on Teaching Statistics, https://www.causeweb.org/cause/uscots/uscots19/posters/1-29
Lesser/Pearl/Weber (May 3, 2019). Grand Prize (in Mid/Advanced Career category)
of 2019 NSF We Are
Mathematics Video Competition for 3-minute video at https://www.causeweb.org/smiles/ -- appears
as story on p. 35 of July 2019 (issue #505) Amstat News: https://magazine.amstat.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/AMSTATJULY.pdf
https://www.facebook.com/UTEPMiners/posts/10156083180686160
https://www.facebook.com/UTEP-College-of-Science-324941569578/
UTEP newsfeed story: https://www.utep.edu/newsfeed/campus/UTEP-Mathe-musicians-Project-Earns-NSF-Accolade.html?fbclid=IwAR2Srl81yjT24akAg93zMOqQioXVBL7am9sCLUrival6a7LAiaU2dQib3gY
contest YouTube
channel with videos that received recognition: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIOLldoXqZH_27xfQSRV-256Agf_mGWRm
contest
website: https://wearemathematics2019.skild.com/
video-of-the-day on the
NSF-sponsored Science360 Video Library: https://science360.gov/obj/tkn-video/72c56a98-abc0-4333-8a51-494f8247ff33/interactive-educational-statistics-songs
D. Pearl, J. Weber, & L.
Lesser (April 12, 2019). Interactive Song Activities for Introductory Statistics, poster, A National Convening on the Integration of Arts,
Humanities, and STEMM in Higher Education, National Academy of Sciences,
Washington, DC, https://www.eventbrite.com/e/a-national-convening-on-the-integration-the-arts-humanities-and-stemm-in-higher-ed-tickets-53159362083#
Lesser, L. (taped March 14,
aired March 15, 2019). Pi Day interview (15+ minutes) of Larry by Louie Saenz,
regional NPR station KTEP-FM: https://www.ktep.org/post/focus-campus-larry-lesser-1
Lesser, L.M. & Dousa, D.
M. (March 1, 2019). The design and assessment of interactive songs for teaching
statistics: An NSF-funded interdisciplinary adventure. Rocky Mountain Music
Scholars Conference (Southwest Chapter of the Society for Ethnomusicology), El
Paso, TX. https://www.utep.edu/liberalarts/music/events/RockyMountainConference_2019.html
D.K. Pearl, L. M.
Lesser, & J.J. Weber (Feb. 2019). Web-based
interactive song activities for intro statistics, poster, III International Virtual
Congress on Statistical Education, https://www.ugr.es/~fqm126/civeest/posters/pearl_pos.pdf
Weber, J., Pearl,
D.K., & Lesser, L. (Jan. 2019). Project SMILES: Student-Made Interactive
Learning with Educational Songs, invited poster at MAA and NSF joint poster
session for holders of NSF DUE awards in the mathematical sciences (organizer:
Jon Scott). Joint Mathematics Meetings, Baltimore, MD.
Lesser, L., Pearl, D., Weber, J., & Greg Crowther (Sept.
2018). "Writing or Adapting Songs for Student Inputs to Make Interactive
STEM Songs", contributed presentation, annual conference of VOICES (Virtual Ongoing Interdisciplinary
Collaborations on Educating with Song), https://www.causeweb.org/voices/2018/session/8
Lesser, L. (Sept. 2018). "Making History: Using History
Songs to Humanize (Math/Statistics) Content, Class, and Instructors",
contributed videoposter, annual conference of VOICES (Virtual Ongoing Interdisciplinary
Collaborations on Educating with Song), https://www.causeweb.org/voices/2018/poster/2 (with archived discussion
at https://www.causeweb.org/voices/2018/session/9)
D. Pearl (Sept. 2018), Let's Move the VOICES Initiative
to a Higher Pitch, annual conference of VOICES (Virtual Ongoing Interdisciplinary
Collaborations on Educating with Song), https://www.causeweb.org/voices/2018/program
Lesser,
L. (Autumn 2018). Modulating Misconceptions with Musical Means. Teaching Statistics, 40(3), 79-82. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/test.12157
Carey,
B. (July 31, 2018). Student Made Interactive Learning with Educational Songs
(SMILES). Invited presentation for The Big Picture conference, Eberly College of Science, Penn State.
Lesser/Pearl/Weber (July
2018). Using Innovative Technology and Interactive
Songs to Engage All Students in Statistics, competitively-selected contributed
session, Conference for the Advancement of Mathematics Teaching, Houston, TX
Lesser/Pearl/Weber (June
2018). Using Innovative
Technology and Interactive Songs to Engage Students in Standards-based
Introductory Statistics Learning Objectives: Discussing Lessons Learned from
NSF-funded Project SMILES. Competitively-selected contributed paper, TODOS 2018
national conference, Scottsdale, AZ. http://www.todos-math.org/todos2018
Pearl/Weber/Lesser (May 24, 2018).
Student-Made Interactive Learning with Educational Songs (SMILES). Workshop,
invited, 4th Electronic Conference on Teaching
Statistics. (the 74 minutes in whole-room mode from the workshop archived
at https://www.causeweb.org/cause/ecots/ecots18/workshops/2
)
Lesser, L. (May 24, 2018).
Student-Created Songs in Statistics Class, competitively-selected contributed videoposter, 4th Electronic Conference on
Teaching Statistics, archived at https://www.causeweb.org/cause/ecots/ecots18/posters/4-04
Pearl/Weber/Lesser (May 14-21, 2018). Learning Introductory
Statistics with Interactive Songs, competitively-selected video presentation,
2018 NSF STEM for All Video Showcase: Transforming the Educational Landscape (http://stemforall2018.videohall.com/presentations/1242)
https://www.utep.edu/newsfeed/utep-professor-selected-for-nsf-video-showcase-highlighting-innovation-in-stem-education.html
collection of interactive statistics songs launched May 2018
at https://www.causeweb.org/smiles/
Lesser et al. (April 2018). Full STEAM Ahead: Engaging, Empowering, and Educating Students with Interactive (Statistics) Songs. Competitively-selected contributed presentation. National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Annual Meeting & Exposition. Washington, DC.
Weber/Pearl/Lesser (March
2018). Using Interactive Songs to Increase
Student Engagement and Learning Statistics, Competitively-selected
contributed presentation, International
Conference on Technology in Collegiate Mathematics, Washington, DC.
Lesser, L. (Spring 2018).
Classroom notes: One in ten. Teaching
Statistics, 40(1), 33-34. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/test.12148
Weber,
J., Pearl, D.K., & Lesser, L. (Jan. 2018). Project SMILES: Student-Made
Interactive Learning with Educational Songs, invited poster at MAA and NSF
joint poster session for holders of NSF DUE awards in the mathematical sciences
(organizer: Jon Scott). Joint Mathematics Meetings, San Diego, CA.
Weber et
al. (Nov. 2017). Using Web-Based Interactive
Songs to Help Students Learn Statistics, competitively-selected contributed
presentation, 43rd AMATYC Annual Conference, San Diego, CA. https://c.ymcdn.com/sites/amatyc.site-ym.com/resource/resmgr/2017_conference_proceedings/s002_-_weber.pdf
Pearl/Lesser/Weber/Dousa
(Oct. 26-28, 2017). A web-based interface to support interactive songs: Helping
college students learn STEM. competitively-selected
contributed presentation, Joint meeting of
the Association for Technology in Music Instruction and The College Music
Society in San Antonio, TX.
Lesser, L. (Sept. 27-28, 2017). A
continuum of interactivity with (mathematics/statistics) songs. Invited
reviewed presentation, VOICES: Virtual Ongoing Interdisciplinary Conferences on
Educating with Song. https://www.causeweb.org/voices/2017/panel/1-3
Pearl,
D., & Weber, J. (Sept.27-28, 2017). Demonstrating
an Interactive Song for Learning Introductory Statistics: The Novel Innovation
of NSF-funded Project SMILES. Reviewed presentation, VOICES:
Virtual Ongoing Interdisciplinary Conferences on Educating with Song, videoposter at https://www.causeweb.org/voices/2017/poster/8
Lesser, L. (Sept. 2017). FUNdamental
engagement in statistics education. Amstat
News, no. 483, 24-28. [invited article for magazine of the nation’s top statisticians’
organization]
Weber/Lesser/Pearl
(May 2017). Project SMILES: Student-Made Interactive Learning with Educational
Songs in introductory statistics.
Poster, 7th United States Conference on Teaching Statistics,
Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA. https://www.causeweb.org/cause/uscots/uscots17/posters/2-03
Weber/Lesser/Pearl
(May 2017). Teaching with fun.
Birds-of-a-feather roundtable, 7th United States Conference
on Teaching Statistics, Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA. https://www.causeweb.org/cause/uscots/uscots17/birds-of-a-feather/S05
Pearl/Lesser/Weber
(May 2017). Show Me How to Use Interactive Statistics Songs! half-day
workshop at 7th United States Conference on Teaching Statistics,
Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA. https://www.causeweb.org/cause/uscots/uscots17/workshop/8
Lesser,
L., Pearl, D.K., & Weber, J. (April 2017). Changing the rhythm of math
class: Using educational songs to cultivate learning and community, 60-minute
session, NCTM Annual Meeting & Exposition, San Antonio, TX.
Dousa, D., & Lesser, L.
(March 2017). Project SMILES (Student-Made Interactive Learning with
Educational Songs): A Model for Interdisciplinary Projects in Music and the
STEM Sciences. Rocky Mountain Chapter Conference of the College Music Society,
Eastern New Mexico University, Portales, NM. Abstract at: https://www.music.org/pdf/conf/reg/rm/2017schedule.pdf
John Weber et al.
(March 2017). Project SMILES: Student-Made Interactive Learning with
Educational Songs for Introductory Statistics, poster, 29th
International Conference on Technology in Collegiate Mathematics, Chicago, IL.
John Weber et al.
(March 2017) Using Interactive Songs to Engage Students in Learning
Introductory Statistics: Overview of NSF-Funded Project, paper, 29th
International Conference on Technology in Collegiate Mathematics, Chicago, IL.
John Weber et al.
(March 4, 2017). Using Interactive Songs to Engage Students in Learning
Introductory Statistics: Overview of NSF-Funded Project, talk, Teaching Matters
Conference, Gordon State College, Barnesville, GA.
John Weber et al.
(Feb. 17, 2017). Using Interactive Songs to Engage Students in Learning
Introductory Statistics: Overview of NSF-Funded Project, presentation at 30th
Annual Mathematics Conference -- Perimeter College at Georgia State University.
Clarkston, GA.
Lesser, L. (Jan. 2017). Moving
between inner and outer worlds [set of 10 math/stat poems with introductory comments].
Journal of Humanistic Mathematics, 7(1), 275-284. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/jhm/vol7/iss1/21/
Weber, J., Pearl, D.K., &
Lesser, L. (Jan. 2017). Using interactive songs to engage students in learning
introductory statistics: Overview of NSF-funded project, contributed paper at
MAA Session on Humor and Mathematics (organizers: Debra Korkovitz,
Gizem Karaali, Semra Kilic-Bahi,
Cesar Martinez-Garza). Joint Mathematics Meetings,
Atlanta, GA. http://jointmathematicsmeetings.org/amsmtgs/2180_abstracts/1125-d5-3014.pdf
Weber,
J., Pearl, D.K., & Lesser, L. (January 2017). Project SMILES: Student-Made
Interactive Learning with Educational Songs, poster at MAA and NSF joint poster
session for holders of NSF DUE awards in the mathematical sciences (organizer:
Jon Scott). Joint Mathematics Meetings, Atlanta, GA.
Weber,
J.J., Lesser, L., & Pearl, D.K. (Nov. 2016). Student-made interactive
learning with educational songs in statistics, poster, annual meeting of
American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges. Denver, CO.
Lesser,
L. M., Reyes, R., Pearl, D., & Weber, J. (Nov. 2016). Fun Fosters
Educational Community Culture. Research session for Professional and
Organizational Development (POD) Network in Higher Education Conference,
Louisville, KY. http://podnetwork.org/content/uploads/2016-POD-Program-Draft-21Oct2016.pdf
Lesser, L. M., Pearl, D. K., & Weber, J. J. (July
2016). Assessing fun items’ effectiveness in increasing learning of college
introductory statistics students: Results of a randomized experiment. Journal of Statistics Education, 24(2), 54-62. http://tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/10691898.2016.1190190?needAccess=true [one of 4 articles selected for summarization in debut digest
episode (#1716,
12/21/17) of Math Ed Podcast]
Lesser, L., An, S., & Tillman, D. A.
(June 2016). The use of song to open an educational development workshop:
Exploratory analysis and reflection. To
Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development, 35(2),
284-302.
Oh, Hyen [undergraduate], Pearl, D., Lesser, L. & Weber, J.
(May 2016). Gender differences in statistical anxiety. Archived poster
presentation, 3rd Electronic Conference on Teaching Statistics. https://www.causeweb.org/cause/ecots/ecots16/posters/a/9
Lesser, L., Dousa, D., Haddad, S., Pearl, D., & Weber,
J. (March 2016). Interactive songs to engage students learning introductory
statistics: Overview of NSF-funded project.
Podium
talk at 13th International Sun Conference on Teaching and
Learning. El Paso, TX.
Lesser,
L. (March 12-18, 2016). Music
= Math!, The Mini Page, no. 11 [Universal Press Syndicate educational
children’s weekly feature read by an estimated 20 million readers across 500+
newspapers in the US and abroad]
Crowther,
G. (February 18, 2016). STEM songster interview #19: Professor [Larry] Lesser. http://singaboutscience.org/wp/2016/02/18/stem-songster-interview-19-professor-lesser/
Lesser,
L.M., Weber, J.J., & Pearl, D. K. (2016). Using targeted fun in
college introductory statistics to decrease anxiety and increase learning:
Research, resources, and recommendations [contributed paper at 2016 Joint
Mathematics Meetings]. In Carla D. Savage (Ed.), Abstracts of
papers presented to the American Mathematical Society, vol. 37, no. 1,
issue 183, p. 389. http://jointmathematicsmeetings.org/amsmtgs/2181_abstracts/1116-h5-1335.pdf
Lesser,
L. (December 2015). ‘American Pi’: The Story of a Song about Pi. Journal
of Mathematics Education, 8(2), 158-168. http://educationforatoz.com/images/2015_Larry_Lesser.pdf
Lesser,
L. (November 19, 2015). The Gambler. Invited performance at National Museum of
Mathematics. https://www.causeweb.org/cause/resources/fun/videos/gambler
Lesser, L.M. & Reyes, R. (June 2015). Student Reactions
to the Integration of Fun Material in a High-Anxiety Subject: A Case Study
in the Teaching of College Introductory Statistics. Transformative
Dialogues: Teaching and Learning Journal, 8(1), 1-19. http://www.kpu.ca/sites/default/files/Transformative%20Dialogues/TD.8.1.6_Lesser%26Reyes_.Case_Study_Statistics_Fun.pdf
Weber,
J.J., Pearl, D.K., & Lesser, L. (May 2015). Fun in statistics class: A
vehicle for students to make connections. Competitively-selected breakout
session presented twice at 6th United States Conference on Teaching
Statistics. Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA. https://www.causeweb.org/uscots/uscots15/sessions.php#weber
Lesser, L. M. & Weber, J. (2015).
Research, resources, and recommendations for using humor/fun in college
mathematics and statistics courses: Lessons learned from survey research and
NSF-funded randomized experiments and a case study [contributed paper at 2015
Joint Mathematics Meetings]. In Abstracts
of papers presented to the American Mathematical Society. vol. 36, no. 1,
issue 179, p. 354. https://jointmathematicsmeetings.org/amsmtgs/2168_abstracts/1106-e5-1292.pdf
Lesser, L. (November 2014). Research, Rationale, and resources for
leveraging fun into learning. Research
session for Professional and Organizational Development (POD) Network in Higher
Education Conference, Dallas, TX. http://podnetwork.org/content/uploads/2014PODConferenceProgram.pdf
Lesser, L. (November 21, 2014). Using ‘Fun’ in the Statistics
Classroom: Research and Recommendations.
Invited Research Burst talk, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
regional conference, Houston, TX. http://www.nctm.org/uploadedFiles/Conferences_and_Professional_Development/Regional_Conferences_and_Expositions/Houston_Program_Book_Full.pdf
Lesser, L. (2014). Mathematical lyrics:
Noteworthy endeavours in education. Journal of
Mathematics and the Arts, 8(1-2), 46-53. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/17513472.2014.950833?needAccess=true
(“cartoon
abstract” of this paper published in May 2016)
Lesser, L., Reyes, R., Pearl, D., Weber, J. (July
2014). Preliminary results of the effects and roles of fun in introductory
statistics classes [Poster abstract]. In K. Makar, B. de Sousa,
& R. Gould (Eds.), Sustainability in statistics education. Proceedings of the Ninth
International Conference on Teaching Statistics (ICOTS9, July, 2014),
Flagstaff, AZ, USA. Voorburg, The Netherlands: International Statistical Institute. http://icots.info/9/proceedings/pdfs/ICOTS9_P40_LesserPearlReyesWeber.pdf
Lesser,
L. (June 2014). Overcoming statistical anxiety and being successful in data
analysis. In Amanda J. Rockinson-Szapkiw &
Lucinda S. Spaulding (Eds.), Navigating the
doctoral journey: A handbook of strategies for success (pp. 65-75).
Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
Keith
Pannell's interview of Larry Lesser aired on NPR-affiliate KTEP-FM on
5/29/2014 in the series "100@100: Research for Our Next Century"
http://ktep.org/post/100-100-larry-lesser#stream/0
Lesser,
L., Pattanayak, C. W., & Pruim,
R. (May 25, 2014). Panel on ‘Bridging the Disciplines’ for second
Electronic Conference on Teaching Statistics (eCOTS), https://www.causeweb.org/ecots/ecots14/51/.
Lesser,
L., Pearl, D., Reyes, R., & Weber, J. (May 20, 2014). Bridging the
disciplines with fun: Resources and research. Competitively-selected breakout
session for second Electronic Conference on Teaching Statistics (eCOTS), https://www.causeweb.org/ecots/ecots14/32/
Lesser,
L., Carver, R., & Erickson, P. (August 20, 2013). Using fun in the
statistics classroom: An exploratory study of college instructors’ hesitations
and motivations. Invited Journal of Statistics Education webinar
for Consortium for the Advancement of Undergraduate Statistics Education,
archived at https://www.causeweb.org/webinar/jse/2013-08/
Lesser,
L. (2013). Exploring (and removing) hesitations to using (thoughtful) fun in
statistics classes. Proceedings of the 2013 Joint Statistical
Meetings, Section on Statistical Education (pp. 534-536). Alexandria,
VA: American Statistical Association. http://www.math.utep.edu/Faculty/lesser/JSM2013.pdf
Robertson, W.
& Lesser, L. (July 2013). Scientific skateboarding and mathematical music:
Edutainment that actively engages middle school students. European Journal of Science
and Mathematics Education, 1(2), 60-68. http://www.scimath.net/articles/12/123.pdf
Lesser, L. (May
2013). Plenary featured banquet edutainment. 5th United States
Conference on Teaching Statistics. Cary, NC. https://www.causeweb.org/resources/fun/db.php?id=527
Study of Fun cluster group [Lesser, Wall, Carver, Pearl, Martin,
Kuiper, Posner, Erickson, Liao, Albert, & Weber] (May 2013). Using fun in
the statistics classroom: An exploratory study of hesitations and motivations
of USCOTS 2011 attendees, Poster and
Beyond, United States Conference on Teaching Statistics, Cary, NC. Abstract
published in online conference program, https://www.causeweb.org/uscots/uscots13/posters/
Lesser,
L.M., Wall, A., Carver, R., Pearl, D.K., Martin, N., Kuiper, S., Posner, M. A.,
Erickson, P., Liao, S.-M., Albert, J., & Weber, J.J. (March 2013). Using
fun in the statistics classroom: An exploratory study of college instructors’
hesitations and motivations. Journal
of Statistics Education, 21(1), 1-33.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/10691898.2013.11889659?needAccess=true
Lesser, L.
(2013). Poetic Reactions. Journal of Humanistic Mathematics, 3(1), 156-161. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/jhm/vol3/iss1/13/
Lesser, L.
(2012). Three Mathematical Lyrics. Journal of Humanistic Mathematics, 2(1),
104-106. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/jhm/vol2/iss1/9/
Glickman, M., Lesser, L., et al. (May
2011). USCOTS Theater: Show us the Next Big Thing! invited
breakout session, 4th United States Conference on Teaching
Statistics, Cary, NC.
R. Carver, P. Erickson, S. Kuiper, L.
Lesser, D. Pearl, M. Posner, & A. Wall (May 2011), A Little Fun Makes a Big
Difference, invited poster, 4th United States Conference on Teaching
Statistics, Cary, NC.
Lesser,
L. (November 2009). Composing Connections: Mathemusician
Merges Math and Music in the Music City! opening plenary keynote, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
Regional Conference and Exposition, Nashville, TN.
S. Kuiper, L. Lesser, D. Pearl, & M. Posner (June 2009).
Letting Go of the Idea that Stats Class Can’t be Fun
and FUNctional, invited poster session at 3rd
United States Conference on Teaching Statistics, The Ohio State University,
Columbus, OH, June 2009.
Lesser, L. M. &
Glickman, M. E. (2009). Using magic in the teaching of probability and
statistics. Model Assisted Statistics and
Applications, 4(4), 265-274.
Lesser, L. & Pearl, D. (2008). Functional fun in
statistics teaching: Resources, research, and recommendations. Journal of
Statistics Education, 16(3), 1-11. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/10691898.2008.11889572?needAccess=true
Lesser, L. (July-August 2008). Non-Monotone Math Song Sing-Along!, invited plenary banquet presentation, annual
summer meeting of Mathematical Association of America, Madison, WI.
Lesser, L.
(2008). Even More Fun Learning Stats. STATS, 49, pp. 5-8, 19, 27.
[issue is at https://www.causeweb.org/cause/archive/stats/STATS_49.pdf ]
Lesser, L.
(2007). Learning Stats is FUN…with the Right Mode. STATS, 48, pp. 7-11, 21, 26-28. [issue is
at https://www.causeweb.org/cause/archive/stats/STATS_48.pdf
]
Lesser, L. (2007
– present). Features where a comic strip is accompanied by classroom-ready
questions, including Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School “Cartoon
Corner” (A
Round This Date in Time; Pizza Pi, Anyone? in March
2007) and Mathematics Teacher “Media Clips” (Stature
of Salary: Raised Expectations or a Tall Tale? in Oct. 2016, Normally
Speaking in Feb. 2015, Lottery Lunacy in Sept. 2012, The
High School Weirdness Factor in Mar. 2010, Safe
Havens graph in May 2008).
D. Pearl & L. Lesser
(May 2007). Using Fun to Take Statistics Teaching Up a
Notch, invited
breakout session, 2nd United States Conference on Teaching
Statistics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, May 2007.
Lesser, L. (April 11, 2006).
Making statistics learning fun. CAUSE webinar archived at: https://www.causeweb.org/cause/webinar/teaching/2006-04/
Consortium
for the Advancement of Undergraduate Statistics Education (CAUSE) fun
collection (August 2004 - present). Dennis Pearl launches CAUSE website which includes a highly-visited fun resources collection (https://www.causeweb.org/resources/fun/) that now includes about 750 items, a user’s guide (https://www.causeweb.org/cause/resources/fun/references), an educational fun items contest since 2006 (https://www.causeweb.org/cause/a-mu-sing/),
and a monthly cartoon
caption contest since 2016 (https://www.causeweb.org/cause/caption-contest/).
For information/suggestions for the collection, contact: fun@CAUSEweb.org
Lesser, L. (2003). Further comments and
cautions on using humor [comment on Friedman, Friedman, & Amoo, 2002]. Journal of Statistics Education, 11(1). http://www.amstat.org/publications/jse/v11n1/lesser_letter.html
Lesser, L. (2002). Stat Song
Sing-Along! STATS, 33, pp. 16-17.
Lesser, L. (2001). Musical means: Using songs
in teaching statistics. Teaching
Statistics, 23(3), 81-85.
Lesser, L. (2000). Sum of Songs: Making Mathematics Less Monotone! Mathematics Teacher, 93(5), 372-377.
Lesser,
L. (1996 - present). Over 97 mathematics/statistics/education songs published in over two
dozen periodicals, including: Mathematics
Teacher, Pi in the Sky, The Pi, Journal
of Irreproducible Results, Convergence, Math
Horizons, Journal of Mathematics Education, Amstat News, Teaching Statistics, Humanistic
Mathematics Network Journal, Journal of Humanistic Mathematics, (GCTM)
Reflections, (GCTM) eReflections, The
Problem Solver: A Math Newsletter for Adult Educators, Texas
Mathematics Teacher, Journal of Mathematics and the Arts, STATS, News
from the World of Statistics, Colorado Mathematics Teacher, The
American Mathematical Monthly, To Improve the Academy, Noticias de TODOS, and Mathematics
Teaching in the Middle School. Some songs have won awards in national contests
(e.g., sponsored by American Statistical Association, National Museum of
Mathematics, Quantitative Literacy SIGMAA, or Consortium for the Advancement of
Undergraduate Statistics Education.) Also, over 40 mathematics/statistics/education poems published in many venues including: Talking Writing, The Mathematical
Intelligencer, BorderSenses Literary Magazine,
Journal of the Association of Mexican American Educators, Amstat
News, Journal of Humanistic Mathematics, Texas Mathematics Teacher, Radical
Statistics, Bridges Poetry Anthology, and major mathematical poetry blogs (Kaz Maslanka; JoAnne Growney). Also I wrote/captioned a dozen
mathematics/statistics cartoons at https://www.causeweb.org/cause/resources/fun/ or https://www.causeweb.org/cause/caption-contest/ .
CURRENT
GRANT:
https://www.causeweb.org/smiles/
Collaborative
proposal: SMILES: Student-Made Interactive Learning
with Educational Songs for Introductory
Statistics NSF Div.
of Undergraduate Education (DUE) EAGER (Early-concept Grants for
Exploratory Research) grant (Sept. 15,
2015 - Aug. 31, 2020) PSU (1544426);
UTEP (1544237); GPC (1544243)
Abstract: In our
increasingly data-centric world, statistical reasoning (reasoning about data in
the context of uncertainty) has become central to the skills our nation needs
students to develop. Unfortunately, students’ first experience with
statistical reasoning remains in classrooms dominated by lectures rather than
active learning experiences and dominated by instructors relatively untrained
in the field. This is especially true at two-year colleges where
adjunct instructors often find it difficult to take part in professional
development opportunities, often perceive reform-based pedagogies as taking
“extra work” when they already have an unreasonable workload, perceive new
resources as being difficult to integrate into their current mode of
instruction, and recognize the often severe “statistics anxiety” in their
students. SMILES (Student-Made Interactive Learning with Educational Songs) for Introductory Statistics
will develop and field-test an innovation in
online learning where students create a song by filling in key words associated
with a learning objective. These interactive songs will challenge students to make conceptual
connections and construct examples or context, thereby
fostering statistical literacy and reasoning skills. By reducing
statistics anxiety (a key impediment to student success) and enhancing student
learning, the potential impact is
striking. Interactive
songs are a novel learning resource that holds great potential for teaching
literacy and reasoning skills in statistics and other STEM disciplines.
The web-based,
machine-run, and auto-graded characteristic
of this resource will provide easy access to students anywhere anytime, and
will address instructor hesitations regarding in-class use. For instructors,
interactive songs will be readily adoptable regardless of pedagogy (e.g., as
easily incorporated in a flipped class as in an online class, or a lecture/lab
course), and provide a simple bridge to the statistics education reform
movement for groups like two-year college adjuncts who remain otherwise
disconnected. Most importantly, for
students, these professional-quality interactive songs will be
designed to engage, lessen anxiety, and foster active learning that enhances
statistical reasoning skills. To enhance their value, the interactive
songs developed by the SMILES project will involve a unique artist/scientist
collaborative to create original high-quality musical resources. To evaluate
their efficacy, we will conduct a randomized controlled field test involving
twenty college level introductory statistics instructors (15 will be
from two-year colleges and most with predominately African American and Hispanic
student populations) in order to assess the value of interactive songs in
enhancing student learning and reducing student anxiety.
Spinoff of SMILES grant:
VOICES
September 27-28, 2017 was the debut of VOICES (Virtual Ongoing Interdisciplinary Conferences on Educating with
Song; https://www.causeweb.org/voices/
), the first-of-its-kind online conference on using music to teach
college-level (including high school AP) STEM content. The conference was
funded as part of the NSF grant Project SMILES (Student-Made Interactive
Learning with Educational Songs), whose PIs are Larry Lesser
(The University of Texas at El Paso), Dennis Pearl (Penn State), and John Weber
(Perimeter College at Georgia State University). The inaugural conference
chair was Greg Crowther, a college biology instructor who has written 100+ STEM songs,
published several journal articles on teaching science with music, co-founded a
science songwriters' association, and founded a curated database of 7000+ STEM
songs.
The conference featured two full
days of (now-archived) programming over two days from the latest
research, pedagogy, and practitioner perspectives, including interactive
virtual poster sessions, interdisciplinary panels, and a keynote address by
physics instructor and entertainer Lynda Williams ("The Physics
Chanteuse"). The conference involved 71 registered attendees, 45
presenters, and 40 presentations. Participants spanned 22 states
across the US as well as Canada and the United Kingdom. It was
striking how almost all presentations applied to virtually all STEM
disciplines, and participants spanned a very broad variety of disciplines,
including all of the major STEM fields, as well as
Education, English, Media & Information, and Performing Arts.
|
MOST
RECENT PRIOR GRANT: Collaborative Research Project UPLIFT: Universal Portability
of Learning Increased by Fun Teaching NSF Div. of Undergraduate
Education (DUE) TUES (Transforming Undergraduate Education in
Science) Type 1 grant (Aug.
15, 2012-Aug. 15, 2016) OSU (1141261) PSU(1519554);
UTEP (1140690);
GPC (1140592)
|
|
Project UPLIFT outcomes
report
Project
UPLIFT: Universal Portability of Learning Increased by Fun Teaching aimed to enhance and field test the use of fun items, such
as songs and cartoons, for learning introductory statistics.
Project
UPLIFT enhanced the collection of fun items at www.CAUSEweb.org
to make them easier and more pedagogically valuable for instructors’ use with
searching, browsing, and annotated links to statistical concepts and references
in the literature. The collection currently has 538 items including 97 songs,
132 cartoons, 33 poems, 38 jokes, 191 quotes, 17 videos, 23 artistic sketches,
3 puzzles, and 4 magic tricks. This
resource is heavily used by college-level statistics teachers nationally
(including those who teach AP Statistics in high school). Further, as part of
the UPLIFT project, the Commercial Music Program at The University of Texas at
El Paso produced high quality recordings of a preponderance of our educational
songs so they could be used without requiring teacher talent.
In
our field test, we hoped to show that such materials could enhance student
learning and reduce student anxiety.
Thus, we conducted a randomized experiment to understand the value of
fun inserts in about 15 brief content readings that were developed to be
aligned with course curriculum. Our
results showed only a small positive effect, on average, for reducing student
anxiety that was not statistically significant.
However, we did find a statistically significant increase in learning,
as students who were randomly assigned to hear songs about statistical concepts
averaged 7.7% higher on embedded multiple-choice items in course exams. Finally, by conducting interviews and focus
groups with students, we also gained a good deal of contextual information
about student perceptions of the use of fun items in teaching and learning. In particular, our findings revealed that students
valued, engaged in more, and felt they understood the material better when an instructor
enacted a fun-enhanced pedagogy that built on the emotional aspects of
teaching and learning.
To maximize impact and
dissemination, project resources are freely online for statistics
teachers. Project leaders also produced
peer-reviewed papers and talks, conducted workshops, and archived a variety of
online presentations and activities.
or enter
Federal Award ID number in the search box of: https://www.research.gov/research-portal/appmanager/base/desktop?_nfpb=true&_eventName=viewQuickSearchFormEvent_so_rsr
another prior grant in this area:
Level 2 Round 3
Award from UTEP’s Interdisciplinary Research (IDR) Enhancement Program
Project: “Research on Contextualizing K-12 Mathematics Education within
the Real World Context of Musical Composition and Musical Instrument Design”,
January 1- Dec. 31, 2013, $20,000 grant was one of only 3 (i.e., top 7%) of
proposals achieving this highest funding level
Team members: Daniel Tillman (PI),
Teacher Education Dept.; Song
An, Teacher Education Dept., Larry Lesser,
Mathematical Sciences Dept.; Andrea
Shaheen, Music Dept.