COURSE OUTCOMES

AP STATISTICS

(June2011)

AP Statistics is the secondary equivalent of a one semester, introductory college statistics course. This course is designed to prepare students for advanced studies in mathematics at the university level. Students who master the essential unit outcomes of this course will have an excellent foundation to pursue higher-level university mathematics courses.

In this course, students develop strategies for collecting, organizing, analyzing, and drawing conclusions from data. Students design, administer, and tabulate results from surveys and experiments. Probability and simulations aid students in constructing models for chance behavior. Sampling distributions provide the logical structure for confidence intervals and hypothesis tests. Students will use a TI-83/84 graphing calculator, TI-Nspire™ CX CAS, Fathom and Minitab statistical software, and Web-based java applets to investigate statistical concepts. To develop effective statistical communication skills, students are required to prepare frequent written and oral analyses of real data.

The AP Statistics course is divided into ten essential units and one selective unit. The prerequisite for this course is mastery of the ten essential unit outcomes of Advanced Math I (Algebra 2). Students normally engage in this course during their third or fourth

secondary year.

The normal pace for this course leads to mastery of the ten units in one school year, but may vary with some students. Students who intend to take the College Board AP Calculus exam, held in early May each year, should complete the first eight essential units before then.

AP Statistics is designed to use five periods each week. A period is about forty five minutes. (The same amount of time is needed also with the block schedule.)

Course Goals:

In AP Statistics, students are expected to learn

Skills

  • To produce convincing oral and written statistical arguments, using appropriate terminology, in a variety of applied settings.
  • When and how to use technology to aid them in solving statistical problems

Knowledge

  • Essential techniques for producing data (surveys, experiments, observational studies), analyzing data (graphical & numerical summaries), modeling data (probability, random variables, sampling distributions), and drawing conclusions from data (inference procedures – confidence intervals and significance tests)

Habits of mind

  • To become critical consumers of published statistical results by heightening their awareness of ways in which statistics can be improperly used to mislead, confuse, or distort the truth.

Mastery intends: that the student has learned the facts and/or concepts to such an extent that they are usable tools in future endeavors.

This course is related to all the success orientations, competencies, and knowledge noted in the Mathematics Program Outcomes.

Assessment: Each unit has a rubric with it to guide in the assessment of the student. The teacher and student should take adequate time at the beginning of the year to familiarize themselves with the rubric and its expectations. The same rubric is used for all the Essential Units. With consistent use it will help to discriminate between mastery (B-level) and higher order (A-level) work.

Projects:

Each Essential Unit requires the student to use the skills and concepts in the unit in a real life activity. More than story problems, these are actual hands-on experiences in which the student applies mathematics to practical situations relevant to his/her existence, i.e. the student will make measurements, generate data, and draw conclusions. Real-life activities may be limited, short-term experiences (conducting surveys and analyzing data) or long-term experiences lasting several days, weeks, or months (parts of long projects should be evaluated in each unit). The student can perform critical statistical analysis – each student collects data and analyzes it using the techniques learned in the units and prepares a written analysis. Or in some other projects the students work in teams of 2 to design and employ an experiment to investigate response bias, write a summary report, and give a 10 minute oral synopsis to their classmates. Evaluation is done using a four-point rubric like the AP Free Response questions. Teachers and students are encouraged to generate their own activities that have relevance to the local situation. However, since time is limited and most students taking this course will sit the College Board AP Calculus AB exam, completion of E01 to E09 by the end of April must be the first priority.

Possible Assessment Tools and Strategies:

An outline of the ten essential units and suggested materials follows. These unit outcomes are designed to be engaged in the given order, each one a prerequisite for the one following:

Essential Units:

E01 – Exploring Data ( 9 class sessions)

Materials:

Chapter 1, sections 1.1-1.3

E02 – Modeling distributions of data and describing relationships (15 class sessions)

Materials:

Chapter 2, sections 2.1-2.2

Chapter 3, sections 3.1 – 3.2

E03 – Designing studies (11 class sessions)

Materials:

Chapter 4, sections 4.1- 4.3

E04 – Probability (9 class sessions)

Materials:

Chapter 5, sections 5.1-5.3

E05 – Probability (8 class sessions)

Materials:

Chapter 6, sections 6.1 – 6.3

E06 – Sampling distributions and estimating with confidence (14 class sessions)

Materials:

Chapter 7, sections 7.1-7.3

Chapter 8, sections 8.1 – 8.3

E07 – Testing a claim and comparing two populations or groups (16 class sessions)

Materials:

Chapter 9, sections 9.1-9.3

Chapter 10, sections 10.1 – 10.3

E08– Inference for distributions of categorical data and more about regression (12 class sessions)

Materials:

Chapter 11, sections 11.1- 11.2

Chapter 12, sections 12.1- 12.2

E09 – Review and practice AP exams

Materials:

Barrons Review Practice Tests for AP Statistics

Past AP Statistics exams for Section II Parts A and B

downloaded from

E10 – Practice AP exams

Materials:

Barrons AP Statistics

Past AP Statistics exams for Section II Parts A and B

downloaded from

S01 – After the AP exam: final project

Materials:

There are no suggested materials because the students should collect data on the field to develop the project.

The students can use the textbook as a reference for their project.

Assessment Rubric:

The following rubric has been developed as a guideline to assist teachers in providing consistently appropriate assessment of student performance, and to assist students in understanding how they are assessed. It is essential that students be instructed in the use of the rubric and that a copy is available for their reference. This may include posting a copy in a conspicuous place in the classroom and/or photocopying the rubric on to the back of the outcome statements that are distributed at the beginning of each unit.

‘A’ – All essential parts of the unit were mastered at an appropriately high level. The student consistently demonstrated noteworthy achievement of a high quality, particularly in the higher order thinking or performance skills.
Computation / Few or no significant computational errors were made.
Communication /
  • All steps were shown clearly, concisely, and accurately.
  • Appropriate terminology was used.
  • Graphics are neat, accurate, and complete.

Reasoning /
  • The reasoning process is apparent and appropriate.
  • Multiple or alternative strategies may have been employed.

Tools / Tools were appropriately chosen and used effectively.
Initiative /
  • The student proceeded to mastery efficiently.
  • Minimal (or no) prompting by the teacher was necessary.

‘B’ – All essential parts of the unit were mastered at an appropriately high level in which the student successfully engaged in higher order thinking or performance skills.
Computation / Computational errors, if any, were minor and perhaps ‘careless’ but did not interfere with the student’s understanding of the concept(s).
Communication /
  • Most steps were shown clearly, concisely, and accurately.
  • Appropriate terminology was generally used.
  • Graphics are relatively neat, accurate, and complete.

Reasoning /
  • The reasoning process is apparent and appropriate.
  • At lease one problem solving strategy was employed.

Tools / Tools were appropriately chosen and used effectively.
Initiative /
  • The student proceeded to mastery efficiently.
  • Occasional prompting by the teacher was necessary.

‘P’ – The student is “in progress” in the unit.
Computation / Computational fluency may or may not be an issue.
Communication /
  • Some or no steps shown clearly, concisely, and/or accurately.
  • Appropriate terminology was sometimes used or not.
  • Graphics are lacking in neatness, accuracy, and/or completeness.

Reasoning /
  • Reasoning process may or may not be apparent.
  • Student unable to find solutions without prompting.

Tools / Tools may or may not have been chosen and used effectively.
Initiative / Student effort is satisfactory and ongoing although considerable prompting by teacher may be necessary.
“D” – The student has not made reasonable effort and is therefore “deficient” in attaining mastery of the unit (still in progress).

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