ABSTRACT
Statistics: The very word has been known to induce pallor in a graduate student. Such distress over statistics arises for many reasons, some of which include the abstract nature of some of the concepts, the mathematical treat~ ment of the subject matter in many statistics classes (e.g., emphasis on computation), and students' insufficient background prior to entering such classes. These factors are of prime concern in many research endeavors, as seen in some of the chapters in this volume. One suggestion for alleviating this distress for future students is to provide early instruction of statistics, spread over time and across grade levels. But how do we make the subject matter that graduate students want to avoid appear relevant to younger students who do not see the utility of mathematics in their daily lives? Therein lies the challenge that motivates the research described in this chapter.
