WELCOME to the webpage for the CAUSEmos Study of FUN cluster!
CURRENT ROSTER (* = organizer; ^ = joined in 2011)
|
Person (& “homepage”) |
Institution |
Email |
Time zone |
|
Bowling Green State U. ; OH |
Albert at bsu.edu |
Eastern |
|
|
Stonehill College; MA |
rcarver at stonehill.edu |
Eastern |
|
|
Taylor U.; IN |
pterickson at tayloru.edu |
Eastern |
|
|
Grinnell College; IA |
kuipers at grinnell.edu |
Central |
|
|
The University of Texas at
El Paso; TX |
Lesser at utep.edu |
Mountain |
|
|
Amhert College; MA |
Gliao at Amherst.edu |
Eastern |
|
|
University of Waterloo; Ontario,
Canada |
N6martin at uwaterloo.ca |
Eastern |
|
|
The Ohio State University;
OH |
dkp at stat.osu.edu |
Eastern |
|
|
Villanova University; PA |
michael.posner at villanova.edu |
Eastern |
|
|
Buffalo State College; NY |
hodgeaa at buffalostate.edu |
Eastern |
|
|
Georgia Perimeter College
(Clarksville); GA |
John.Weber at gpc.edu |
Eastern |
Our 2009-2011 WIKI page
ReadyTalk conference calls: 1-866-740-1260 (or 1-303-248-0285) then the 7-digit access code we send you;
for more info, contact Jean Scott (614-688-5913; jscott@stat.osu.edu); scheduling may
involve http://www.meetingwizard.com.
TIMELINE:
2003:
CAUSE formed
2004:
in August, CAUSE launches website
that includes some fun items
2006: Lesser gives a CAUSE webinar (the fourth in
its series) on using fun items, archived at: http://www.causeweb.org/webinar/teaching/2006-04/
2007: bi-annual A-mu-sing contest http://www.causeweb.org/a-mu-sing/
launched; Lesser & Pearl invited breakout session on fun at USCOTS
2008: Lesser & Pearl review paper on fun appears in JSE: http://www.amstat.org/publications/jse/v16n3/lesser.html
2009: spring call for applicants for the Study of Fun cluster launched at USCOTS 2009:
“Larry Lesser and Dennis Pearl invite
self-nominations to join us in a special cluster devoted to the study of fun.
There is a great need for more systematic and sustained investigation into what
role various types of fun can or should play in increasing student motivation,
understanding, and retention in statistics courses. This cluster will organize
through conference calls prior to USCOTS, meet on Thursday afternoon June 25th
prior to USCOTS, and have two meals together at USCOTS. Continuing after the
conference through monthly conference calls and other communication, the
cluster will examine previous research in the use of fun items in teaching
statistics, work through possible methods of making fun materials more
effective, and will collaborate in research to assess the classroom
effectiveness of using fun. For an
introduction to this topic see http://www.amstat.org/publications/jse/v16n3/lesser.html. To apply for this cluster please select the
"Teaching with Fun" category under on-going interest groups when you
register for USCOTS. Applications received by May 1, 2009 will receive full
consideration in the selection of participants.”
conference call 12-1 on 6/17/09 (read paper and
browse collection
beforehand);
at USCOTS 2009, the group (Audbjorg Bjornsdottir, Andrea Boito, Rob Carver, Patricia Erickson, Alexis Grosofky, Katherine Holversen, Shonda Kuiper, Larry Lesser, Andre Lubecke, Jackie Miller, Dennis Pearl, Michael Posner, and Amitra Wall) has three in-person meetings; the conference also featured the Kuiper/Lesser/Pearl/Posner invited (poster and) “beyond” session on fun: “Letting Go of the Idea that Stats Class Can’t be fun and FUNctional!” or Amitra Wall’s poster); after USCOTS, the group launched a WIKI page; during monthly conference calls (July 10, Aug. 13, Sept. 25, Oct. 28, Dec. 7), the group continued review of literature, considered issues of classification and identification of attributes of fun, reflected upon how the CAUSEweb collection can be improved (in terms of items, searchability, pedagogical notes, etc.); Lesser and Glickman publish paper on magic: http://iospress.metapress.com/content/j730w4777h667125/
2010: monthly conference calls resumed (May 14) with smaller group (Carver, Erickson, Kuiper, Lesser, Pearl, Posner, Wall) with greater focus on research; planning for USCOTS resulted in launching a DropBox folder for the group
2011: spring
call for applicants to join (beginning at USCOTS 2011) the ongoing Study
of Fun cluster (http://www.causeweb.org/uscots/cluster/): “Larry Lesser and Dennis Pearl invite
self-nominations to join our ongoing cluster devoted to the study of fun. There
is a great need for more systematic and sustained investigation into what role
various types of fun can or should play in increasing student motivation,
understanding, and retention in statistics courses. This cluster will conduct
conference calls prior to USCOTS, meet at USCOTS, and continue after the
conference through monthly conference calls and other communication. The
cluster will examine previous research in the use of fun items in teaching
statistics, work through possible methods of making fun materials more
effective, and will collaborate in research to assess the classroom
effectiveness of using fun. While the topic is 'fun', the group is serious in
committing to timely and regular communications, participation in monthly
conference calls, and working towards grants and/or publishable papers on the
nature or effectiveness of various modalities and implementations of fun. To
apply for this cluster please select the "Study of Fun" category
under on-going interest groups when you register for USCOTS. Also, please read
the Nov. 2008 JSE overview paper and then complete and return this
survey and send it by e-mail to Lesser (at) utep.edu. Selection of
participants will be competitive and applications received by April 10, 2011
will receive full consideration.”
This resulted in adding four
new members to the group, which met multiple times during USCOTS 2011 and presented
a peer-reviewed “posters and beyond” session called “A Little Fun Makes a BIG
Difference!” (Carver/Erickson/Kuiper/Lesser/Pearl/Posner/Wall) which
spotlighted the same 5 modalities from 2009 USCOTS (games, music, magic,
cartoons, strange news) and also reported the results of an anonymous survey conducted
the previous day of USCOTS participants (64% response rate), who received a
customized notepad for participation and an option to enter a drawing (at the USCOTS
banquet) for a Nook. The group continues semi-monthly conference calls and hold a
research retreat in Chicago October 28-29.
MODALITIES from
Table 1 of Lesser
& Pearl (2008):
Cartoons, Celebration Days, Comic Strips, Food, Games (Commercial),
Games (Cultural), Game Shows, Humor/Jokes, Kinesthetic Activity, Literature,
Magic, Media Bloopers, Movies, Music/Raps/Songs, Poems,
Quotations, Statistics fun Books, Striking Examples, Videos, Wordplay.
Additional modalities: Clothing, Strange News
LINKS
Lesser/Pearl Nov. 2008 JSE overview paper: http://www.amstat.org/publications/jse/v16n3/lesser.html
Lesser/Glickman magic paper: http://iospress.metapress.com/content/j730w4777h667125/
Research Resources: http://www.causeweb.org/research/ and
http://www.math.utep.edu/Faculty/lesser/ResearchResources.html
CAUSEweb fun resources collection: http://www.causeweb.org/resources/fun/agreement.php
CAUSE A-mu-sing contest: http://www.causeweb.org/contest/
CAUSE webinar on fun: http://www.causeweb.org/webinar/teaching/2006-04/
miscellaneous: AATH, ISHS, edutainment,