Date of Award

5-2024

Degree Type

Creative Project

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Mathematics and Statistics

Committee Chair(s)

Kady Schneiter

Committee

Kady Schneiter

Committee

KimberLeigh Hadfield

Committee

Brynja Kohler

Abstract

While often taught in high school and required as part of a college degree, statistics classes are sometimes viewed by students as an obstacle rather than a support for their overall goals. One way to increase student engagement in a statistics course is to use the history of statistics. Within the literature review, the advantages to using the history of statistics are discussed as well as the more extensive research on using the history of mathematics in mathematics courses. Included are instructional strategies for using the context around the development of mathematical ideas in math classrooms which can be extended to utilizing historical background in statistics classrooms.

The content of this paper includes the history of concepts taught in introductory statistics. It also includes probability prompts which contributed to the development of probability theory. The personal biographies of people whose work was influential in the development of statistics are presented, organized by those who contributed to probability, data collection, or modern statistical methods. The information contained in this paper can be used in the ways discussed in the literature review to motivate students in introductory statistics courses and relate course content to their lives.

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