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Stats Plant

Caspar GroeneveldUniversity of Amsterdam

Implementation of an Adaptive Training and Tracking Game in Statistics Teaching

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Stats Plant

Statistics teachingProblems with teaching Statistics

Stats Plant as a solution?Adaptive Training and Tracking Game

Does it work?Implementation and Effects

Demonstration Stats Plant

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• Statistics and Math are often seen as talents, not skills– Students should practice sufficiently

• Students often only practice the topic of that week– Students should retrieve and rehearse previous topics

• Students who are behind are ‘lost’– Students should work at their own level

• Students enter programs with varied backgrounds– Students should be able to discover their hiatusus

Problems with Teaching Statistics

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Adaptive• Self-organizing adaptive

algorithm based on Elo’s chess algorithm

• Students and problems are both ‘players’. The player that wins from a higher rated player will go up a bit in rating, and the losing player down.

Adaptive Training and Tracking Game

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Adaptive• 75% chance of correct• High Speed High Stakes scoring

rule• Both speed and accuracy count

So• Guessing fast is costly• Speed visible through coins in the

game

Adaptive Training and Tracking Game

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Training• ~2,000 Statistics problems in three domains

Descriptive Statistics, Probability and Inferential StatisticsCurrently only in Dutch, UK items have been translated

• Always train on your own level: 75% chance of corrector 60% or 90%, if you choose a different difficulty

• Web based

Adaptive Training and Tracking Game

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Tracking, see statistiekfabriek.com • See your development and training frequency

Insight in your progress

• Compare with peers• Find your problems

Adaptive Training and Tracking Game

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Game• Pimp your factory with coins• Speed is important for adaptive algorithm• A faster response risks

more coins• Improve your factory

with coins earned

Adaptive Training and Tracking Game

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• Mandatory Statistics course Research Methods and Statistics

• 496 1st year students of Psychology• 89% used the Stats Plant• Bonus point used as incentive • One in three students used game dynamics

(i.e. pimped their factories)• Students enthusiastic

Implementation and Use

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Paradox of formative testing• Students overwhelmingly indicate they want

more formative tests (source: student survey Digital Natives onder de Loep, goo.gl/1GShCF)

• Without incentive, students don’t (effectively) use formative tests

• With incentive, most students play minimum requirements

• With incentive, risk of other undesirable effects

Implementation and Use

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• Playing frequency and final mark r=.31• Stats Plant rating and final mark r=.39• Regression analysis:

only rating predicts final mark

• Success rate Research Methods & Statistics from worst to highest

Effects

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• Get your own login at statistiekfabriek.com • Demo accounts do not track progress• Only in Dutch

Demo

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C.M.Groeneveld@uva.nlcgroeneveld@oefenweb.nl

Statistiekfabriek was made possible with a grant from Surf and built by the University of Amsterdam, University of Twente and the Universitair Medisch Centrum Utrecht, and Oefenweb

goo.gl/cpajFF

Questions?