iClicker and Achieve: Active Learning in the Math and Statistics Classroom Resources for the math and stats classrooms are not in short supply. You could choose several tools for your course, but switching between multiple programs within a single class period can quickly become problematic. Together, Achieve and iClicker are an exceptionally effective and convenient pairing for making a math or statistics classroom more interactive, and, because iClicker is integrated into Achieve, managing the two programs really feels like managing one .  iClicker and Achieve pair seamlessly, and when using them together you gain access to additional capabilities including: Taking attendance with the click of a button Setting up ice-breaker questions so students can get to know each other (and you can see who would work best with each other in group assignments) Boosting engagement with polling questions Providing opportunities for whole-class participation in a low-stress environment Offering tighter feedback loops where students are more concerned about getting the right answer to a question rather than what their overall grade is Creating automatic review resources based on the questions you ask, with iClicker, in class At the very heart of iClicker’s functionality is active learning. iClicker is designed to get students involved in the lesson they’re learning by instigating a two-way conversation with immediate feedback.  Tip: Use iClicker to ask entrance questions such as: What do you remember most from our last class?  What part of the homework gave you the most trouble?  Based on your students' responses, you can then pivot your lesson plan for the day to address common issues. iClicker is also a great tool for: Think-pair-share activities. Put up a question all students answer. Before sharing the answer, ask students to talk to each other about why they picked their response. Asking the same question a second time will show whether students shifted their answer choice. This is a dynamic way to engage students and get them talking with each other.  Virtual hand-raising. This is a great alternative to having a chat that gets out of control if you’re teaching virtually or in a hybrid format. It brings a little order back into the course and is a more official way for students to communicate with you.  Confidence checks. Using the anonymity feature in iClicker, you’re able to have students answer a question without having to feel like they’re going to get singled out. This is perfect for the question, Do you understand everything we just covered? Having to raise your hand in front of everyone to respond is embarrassing, but iClicker makes it anonymous and easy. How Achieve Keeps Students Organized Another way to utilize features in both Achieve and iClicker is to help get students organized. Within Achieve, students can see their to-do list of assignments as well as the big picture with an entire course content view. Because Achieve and iClicker are integrated, even iClicker work is listed for students to see. This helps prevent students from claiming they didn’t know what the homework was.  You can also assign adaptive quizzing to keep students on the right learning path. It’s a great pre-class assignment to get students organized with the right terms and concepts. As the instructor, you have the ability to decide what content you want students to see in Achieve, and what you don’t, so you’re able to highlight those features that will really help students keep it together. How Achieve Reinforces Math and Stats Concepts  Being able to assign iClicker questions within an Achieve assignment means more coverage that related to the topic you’re teaching. Students can answer a question in class in real time and get scored immediately. Then, you can put the same question into Achieve for students to answer on their own time through the program’s interface.  Try this example, suggested from one of our Achieve for Calculus users:  Ask your students to use the Target question to find the inflection point on a graph, then you can select the area in which the right answer falls to grade the question.             How Achieve Supports Instructors  Two features in particular allow Achieve to give instructors a break in their own workload: pre-built activity guides and assessments.  Activity guides span varied topics throughout the course. Topics are timely, relevant, and interesting to students.Instead of having to come up with what to do from scratch, Achieve presents a step-by-step guide for preparing and implementing the activity. You get everything you need to do, including tools like worksheets, presentation slides, and even iClicker questions when available.  Take a closer look at Instructor Activity Guides: The assessment engine within Achieve is mobile-friendly and meets accessibility standards. Students can see it and use it on any device. It links the interactive e-book, hints, course-specific resources, and a variety of tools that can help with homework assignments. The assessment engine also gives students detailed feedback as they work, making it easier to address any errors or misconceptions. Learn more about Achieve ... View more

The Winter Olympics are almost over, but there's still time to engage your stats students with some new online learning tools and resources. Check out some of our winter sports examples and problems, and see how Achieve is changing the game.  Kokoska's Introductory Statistics: A Problem-Solving Approach, 10e helps students develop the fundamental lifelong skill of solving problems and interpreting solutions in real-world terms. Take a look at this Sports and Leisure example: Tour Achieve for Kokoska 10e to see the tools and resources designed for use before, during and after class. Students apply their knowledge with the following snowboarding problem from The Basic Practice of Statistics, 9e.  Take a tour of Achieve for BPS 9e to see the digital resources that support in-class learning as well as independent studying. Request access to Achieve  or  contact your rep  to see more! ... View more

Are you watching the Winter Olympics? Macmillan has statistics examples and problems to compliment your watching experience! With downloadable data sets and guided practice, Achieve for Statistics deepens your students’ statistical knowledge while giving you an insight into class performance. Built-in coaching tools—hints, detailed feedback, and fully worked solutions—guide students toward the correct answers. By stating, planning and solving the problem, students gain a better understanding of concepts. Check out the following exercise from Chapter 2 of The Basic Practice of Statistics , 9e.   Watch the video below to learn more about our data sets and video technology. Find your rep or request access to Achieve to see this data set and more! ... View more

Use the 2022 Winter Olympics to boost student engagement in your statistics course! The right example could spark your students’ interest in the material–something that is especially important after the last couple years. Check out the following example from The Basic Practice of Statistics , 9e to see how ‘randomness’ turned silver to bronze in 2006. The Basic Practice of Statistics , 9e uses examples and exercises from a wide variety of topic areas that use current, real data to provide students insight into how and why statistics are used to make decisions in the real world.  Achieve for The Basic Practice of Statistics , 9e connects the trusted Four-Step problem-solving approach and real world examples in the book to rich digital resources that foster further understanding and application of statistics. Watch the video below to learn more about Achieve and the resources available for statistics. To learn more, request access to Achieve or contact your rep today! ... View more

With the Olympic Games returning for the Winter, we’re looking at the stats of our favorite teams and Olympic athletes! Take advantage of this opportunity to introduce some of the harder statistics concepts and use examples that are current and relevant.  Request access to Achieve and see how the e-book engages students with real-life examples and interactives. The e-book offers highlighting, note-taking, offline access, and screenreader functionality. Data sets and Video Technology Manuals are available for commonly used statistical software, including Excel, SPSS, R, Minitab, and many others.    Take inspiration from the content and cover of Kokoska’s Introductory Statistics: A Problem-Solving Approach! Learn more about Achieve for Statistics  or sign up for a demo for a one-on-one tour. ... View more

As winter break approaches and students prepare for final exams and projects, instructors are busy writing and grading those finals and discovering how well students actually understood the material. With the mix of available virtual and in-person courses, the consideration of different types of assessments becomes very complex.  Courses in STEM disciplines often cover a large amount of material that tends to encourage superficial learning instead of the more ideal deep approach to learning. Additionally, STEM courses seem to have a threatening and anxiety-provoking assessment system.  Summative assessment is the assessment of student learning; it is usually an exam, final project or report that provides a score on that student’s performance but rarely offers timely or effective feedback. But these final exams and evaluations are inherently necessary in the framework of our education system. What remains is to learn how to use summative assessment as a learning tool. Consider the ideas in the table below for your own test-taking processes. During the test Collaborative test-taking Pyramid exams Immediate feedback assessment technique Self-corrected exams Prior to return of the test Do-over After the return of the test Highlighting missed material Point-recapture Test analysis   How do you make use of summative assessments? Explore the various types of assessments and strategies for their use in Assessment in the College Classroom.   ... View more

How would your students define their relationship with math? BFFs? Casual Acquaintances? Estranged?    Whether you teach precalculus, math for liberal arts, or quantitative literacy, understanding how your intro students feel about math can set the stage to help your students develop confidence in their problem-solving abilities and an appreciation of how math affects the world around them.  Check out this exercise that Bruce Crauder, Macmillan author of Quantitiative Literacy and Preparation for Calculus, assigns to his students at Oklahoma State University.       Turn in a full-page typed essay covering the following topics: --Paragraph 1.  Introduce yourself to me What's your major? Where are you from? What are your hobbies? --Paragraph 2.  Write your math autobiography, i.e. tell me about yourself and math Do you dream in mathematical terms? Or did you part ways with math in the third grade and never look back? --Paragraph 3.  Let me know what you want to achieve in this class What will completing this class enable you to do? What do you hope to take away from this class? What can I do to help you get there?   Finding out a little bit about your students' approach the course can go a long way in helping them succeed. And who knows, maybe your students and math can be lifelong friends after all!   ... View more

When you compete at the Olympic level, every second and centimeter counts to give you an edge.  That’s why athletic gear is so important!  Looking for athletics examples and exercises in your statistics course that are a little outside of the box? Check out a sample of some of our favorite content, all about the shoes, fuel, and equipment that Olympic athletes rely on to compete at the highest level.   What other athletic gear do you think could lend a good data set to statistical analysis?  Achieve allows instructors to write their own questions, or edit pre-built questions, to incorporate any examples, skills, or exercises that work best for their class.   Want to see more? Browse more features of Achieve for Statistics, or sign up for a demo here!     ... View more

“Dive” into these Achieve for Statistics exercises from our favorite Olympic water sports. Are you and your statistics students watching this year’s Tokyo Summer Olympics? Bring examples into your classroom from swimming and diving using our Achieve homework questions with embedded data sets. We include data sets and technology how-to videos for Excel, JMP, Minitab, R, RCmdr, SPSS, TI calculators, and more!   From Kokoska's Introductory Statistics 3e, now with Achieve!   Check out more great features of Achieve for Statistics here, or sign up for a demo! ... View more

  The fastest, the highest, and the furthest. Track & Field is full of exciting events, which, beyond showcasing incredible athletic feats, also produce some great data sets for statistical analysis. What's your favorite track & field event? Check out our range of track & field questions in Achieve for Statistics to see how you can "track" the data in your own class, alongside this year's Tokyo Summer Olympics.      See more examples below or sign up for a demo to explore more features of Achieve for Statistics!   ... View more