Mid-Michigan eCOTS Regional Meeting

Saturday, June 15, 2024 
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM 

Come join the conversation and connect with Mid-Michigan educators who engage in teaching statistics and data science at the high school and college levels, including those who prepare high school teachers. Together we can consider ways to move forward in building capacity in statistics and data science education for the workforce and data-enabled careers. 

This regional in-person conference is being held in conjunction with the online Electronic Conference on Teaching Statistics (eCOTS). eCOTS is held online June 10-13, 2024. The 1-day regional conference will occur on Saturday, June 15, 2024, on the Michigan State University campus. 

Location 

STEM Teaching and Learning Facility, Michigan State University. 642 Red Cedar Rd, East Lansing, Michigan. 
Free parking is available in lots 39 and 79 near the STEM building. MAP LINK 

Agenda 

Registration – 10:00 AM – 10:30 AM in STEM 1130

Keynote Session – 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM in STEM 1201

“Introducing data science in a flipped classroom: Affordances and challenges”
Introductory data science courses may be necessarily more idiosyncratic than more well-established courses, owing to student needs and interests, institutional allowances and constraints, and the new and changing nature of the field of data science. Using STT 180 at Michigan State University as an example and starting point, Dola Pathak and Vince Melfi will facilitate a discussion of introductory data science courses at the post-secondary level.

Lunch Discussion – 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM in STEM 1130

“What Are We Embarrassed to Teach: Identifying Areas for Moving Forward”

Breakout Session 1 – 1:00 PM – 2:15 PM in STEM 1130

“What’s Next in Statistics and Data Science Courses?”

During this session, we get to discuss what we think is next in statistics and data science courses. Three speakers will first share what they think is next in statistics and data science courses for high schools (Gail Burrill, Michigan State University), community college (Alana Tuckey, Jackson College) and four-year colleges (John Keane, University of Michigan). We will then break up into groups to continue these conversations and share highlights of our discussions at the end.

Break 2:15 PM – 2:45 PM 

Breakout Session 2 – 2:45 PM – 4:00 PM in STEM 1130

“Resources for Moving Forward”

During this session, we will get to share resources with one another to help support our journeys in moving forward in our statistics and data science courses. Bradford Dykes (Grand Valley State University) will first share about the Slow Reveal Graphs he has collaboratively developed and used in statistics courses. We will then take turns discussing resources that we have found particularly helpful when teaching statistics and data science courses—these can be resources created by someone else or yourself! All of these resources will be compiled within a Google Drive and shared with all attendees for post-conference access so that we can all use them when moving forward!

Cost 

$25 to register for eCOTS, attendance at the regional conference is no additional cost. Graduate students, community college faculty and high school teachers can register for free using code: “ecotsgrant2024”. 

Registration Process 

To register for the Regional Conference at Michigan State University, participants should first register for the electronic Conference on Teaching Statistics at https://www.causeweb.org/cause/ecots/ecots24 and indicate that they will be attending the eCOTS Regional Conference at Michigan State University. This single registration allows participants to engage with the larger community in all online presentations and posters of the eCOTS conference from June 10-13, as well as attend the local in-person conference on June 15 at Michigan State. 

Planning Committee 

This regional conference is made possible by generous funding from the Consortium for the Advancement of Undergraduate Statistics Education. 

The regional conference is organized and co-hosted by the following: 
Camille Fairbourn, Michigan State University 
Jenny Green, Michigan State University 
John Keane, University of Michigan