Statistics
Contest 2012

I kid you not, statistics is now the sexiest subject on the planet. — Hans Rosling

...without statistics we are cast adrift on an ocean of confusion, but armed with stats we can take control of our lives, hold our rulers to account and see the world as it really is. What's more, Hans concludes, we can now collect and analyse such huge quantities of data and at such speeds that scientific method itself seems to be changing.
— Program note from The Joy of Stats presented by Dr. Hans Rosling and BBC 2010. (4m youtube version and 20m TED talk)

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Welcome

We invite you to enter Statistics Contest 2012, to invent and design your own approach to master the concepts of probability and statistics presented in our university courses STAT 230 and 231.

This contest seeks to generate new, outside-the-box ideas for presenting, understanding and participating with the concepts underlying basic probability and statistics courses.

Student participants are hereby challenged to combine creativity and inventiveness with academic and technical skills to explore innovative ways to learn and master the concepts and practice of statistics.

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Examples & Tools

Please visit the Probability and Statistics Video page to see some rudimentary examples of video and powerpoint presentations.

Also visit the Examples, Techniques and Tools page to see a few different presentation styles that may act as inspiration. Links to different html5/javascript tools are also included to show that implementations don't have to be complicated.

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Rules & Guidelines

1. Who can apply:
   • any current undergraduate student of the University of Waterloo not connected with running this contest
   • any team of up to 5 UW undergraduates per team
2. Prizes are awarded to a winning submission from a team or an individual.
3. Multiple submissions by individuals and teams are allowed.
4. A submission must cover a single concept from the probability and statistics course curriculum.
5. Applicants agree to allow their names and submitted material to be used for educational and promotional purposes. Applicants retain copyright of their material.

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Deadline

March 1st, 2013 (Friday) is the last day to submit your project to the contest. See submission details below. We encourage you to contact us early for feedback about your ideas. You can submit your project early and we may use it in an upcoming course and make you famous.

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Judging

Submissions will be evaluated by members of the Statistics and Actuarial Science departments and their designates.

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Submissions

Student submissions must include

• a selection of a topic from one of the two probability and statistics courses, STAT 230 & STAT 231 (see the Topics sidebar to the left for details)
• a description of the idea or concept of your project including an explanation of the benefits of your approach to students taking probabilty and statistics courses
• an animated or video demonstration of the project, less than 10 minutes long, in sufficient and convincing detail to allow judges to recognize its quality
  • interactive designs like games and simulations are encouraged

Submission format: many electronic formats are suitable, for example: powerpoint animation, html5 canvas/javascript interaction, and video. See the Platforms & Formats sidebar to the left for details.

Submission method: Fill out a copy of this project description document and email it to contestentry@watstat.ca.

You will receive further details about the submission procedure after we get your initial document.

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Help & Contacts

Advisors are available throughout the contest for consultation on course material and technical implementation matters.

Enquiries about the contest can be addressed to contesthelp@watstat.ca.

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Sponsors

We gratefully acknowledge funding from the University of Waterloo Learning and Teaching Enhancement (LITE) Grant program through the Centre for Teaching Excellence (CTE).

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FAQ

This section will expand as questions arise.

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