Over three weeks in to the second semester and,
unsurprisingly, the seniors in my AP Statistics course are finding it harder
and harder to get motivated to do school. That means it’s time for some
blackjack.
At Tuesday’s evening class, we dealt some cards, made some
bets, and recorded lots of data. I have done a blackjack project several times
now and it always grabs the students’ attention and interest. Some students learn
the game for the first time while others learn the finer points such as
splitting and doubling down. But all enjoy watching their piles of chips go up
and down.
While they play, the students record such things as card
values, number of hits, wins, losses, pushes, and busts. In groups, the
students will then use the data to create their own examples that are meant to
illustrate the various probability concepts we have studied thus far. These topics
include conditional probability and independence, random variables, the
binomial and geometric distributions, and sampling distributions. The groups
are tasked with teaching their topics to their classmates. As a part of their
presentation, a group will also provide a sample problem for everyone to try to
solve.
I have come to strongly value students taking over class and teaching
their peers. Explaining the intricacies of challenging mathematical ideas is
not easy. And many students have anxiety about speaking in front of the class. But it is so
worth it. From my experiences with these student presentations, I have seen my
students gain deep understanding of the topics and I think the students
appreciate having class led by someone other than their teacher. After reading
Jo Boaler’s book, Mathematical Mindsets,
I now know that research has shown that explaining work to others creates deep
learning.
In addition to the presentation, students have the
opportunity to collaborate with others. Group work is another prominent part of
my classes. I think my favorite classes are when each group is humming along,
discussing ideas, solving problems, checking each other’s answers, and helping
one another increase their mathematical knowledge. It provides opportunities
for students to explain ideas in a small group setting that might be easier
than in front of the whole class. Once again Dr. Boaler notes in her book that
the research backs the practice.
The project will give the students the opportunity to review
many different ideas. I like the idea of doing review now, even though a little more than three months
still remain before the AP exam. I want my students to engage with the material
as many times as they can before May. I think it’s a bit silly to think that a
student can really learn and understand a concept the first time they see it.
The more times they try to reason through a binomial distribution problem, the
more familiar they will become with the idea. I have taught random variables
ten times now, and I am better this year with them than I was last year.
Finally, projects are such a refreshing change from the
in-class timed tests. I like that my students get a chance to show what they
know in a much different setting. They are not sitting, working alone, trying
to remember when to use which formula. Rather, they are up, working with
others, and they can look up information in their books, in their notes, and
even on the internet. They can meet with me to talk about their project. The
students can choose to spend many hours in preparation so that they can produce
exactly the quality of project they want. I am going to try to see if I can test
less next year and still prepare my students well for the AP exam. I believe it
can be done. Do you? Anybody out there teach project-based AP Statistics course? I would love to hear about your experiences.
