Adventures in Statistics – Cartoon Lessons for College Students

Kognito Solutions, an award-winning e-learning company, announced today the release of Adventures in Statistics, a series of interactive, cartoon-based learning modules to help students understand statistics. Designed as a supplementary resource, it utilizes humor and engaging storylines to reduce student anxiety and maximize their understanding. For a product demo, please visit www.kognito.net/statistics.

In many university classrooms, the very mention of statistics can conjure up feelings of anxiety and discomfort in students. This “statistics anxiety” often leads to academic disengagement, which hampers academic performance and students’ learning experiences. Created in conjunction with university faculty, Adventures in Statistics is designed to help eliminate the anxiety and discomfort students often feel with statistics.

Adventures in Statistics is comprised of five lively, fun, and engaging cartoon-based modules, each between 10 and 15 minutes long, that are available in both online and CD formats. At the heart of these modules are fun situations, quirky characters, animated diagrams, and engaging storylines to help students grasp concepts covered in introductory statistics courses. As research has shown, humor can combat the anxiety that often leads to academic disengagement (Berk, 1996).

In these modules, students test squirrel intelligence, help aliens decide whether or not to invade Earth, determine if it’s profitable for a 1970’s disco king to open a record store, go undercover to investigate the claims of a suspicious casino, and more. Faculty can use the modules as in-class teaching aids or as out-of-class assignments, while students can use them to grasp concepts and reinforce material they have learned in class.

“We wanted to make the learning engaging and meaningful. Using cartoons, humor, and storytelling, we were able to make statistics fun and approachable,” said Kognito’s Director of Research and Development Ralph Vacca. “So far we’ve gotten an amazing response from students.”

“I think it is fantastic!” wrote one student. “I can see how it would be very clear for people who did not have a good knowledge to understand the concepts… Great work!”

The modules are designed to help students enrolled in any university-level course involving statistics, including psychology, sociology, economics, and marketing.

“I am absolutely delighted with these modules,” said Professor Kapil Bawa of the Marketing Department at Baruch College, City University of New York, who uses this resource in his graduate-level marketing research course. “By taking the ‘fear factor’ out of statistics, Kognito makes the subject so much more accessible to students. Explaining statistical concepts is not easy, and I think they have come up with an innovative and creative approach that is extremely effective.”

Topics covered in the modules include: normal distribution, standard deviation, z-scores, sampling distribution, confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, tests for a single proportion, tests for a single mean, tests of two means, paired t-tests, and chi-square contingency tests. The modules also include printable study guides, self-assessment quizzes, and exercises.

Students can visit Kognito’s secure website to purchase the CD for $24.95. Faculty who recommend or require this resource as a supplementary material for their course will provide their students with an additional $5-$10 discount. Faculty should contact Kognito for a special discount code. Academic institutions can purchase an online version under an institutional license (starting at $650), which provides all their students and faculty with access to this resource.

Visit www.kognito.net/statistics for more information and to get a free 7-day trial.

Reference:

Berk, R. A. (1996), “Student ratings of 10 strategies for using humor in college teaching,” Journal of Excellence in College Teaching, 7, 71-92.

About Kognito Solutions
Kognito Solutions LLC applies the latest empirically-based research in human cognition and learning theory to develop customized and pre-packed courses and simulations. Comprised of learning experts with prestigious academic credentials in learning and communication, Kognito helps organizations achieve their learning and training goals in effective and measurable ways utilizing learner-centered, experiential (“learn-by-doing”) approaches and assessment paradigms. Clients include Fortune Global 500 companies, not-for-profit organizations, and leading academic institutions.