Several questions are worth discussion: 1) What is the fundamental definition of statistics used in the course, 2) Are students presented the content in an integrated manner? 3) Are students prepared to do a complete project or problem which involves all five areas: a) designing an experiment, b) collecting data, c) calculating and interpreting meaningful descriptive values and plotting appropriate graphs, d) performing an appropriate analysis, e) followed by conclusions? 4) What teaching approach promotes critical thinking and appreciation for statistical applications? 5) How do we address the challenges associated with a diverse student population?

With the above questions in mind, we propose to adopt a different approach in an elementary statistics class targeting the general education audience. The concepts will be addressed through an activity-based approach. In this approach, the content will emerge as students work on carefully selected context-rich problems and projects which can be addressed through multiple perspectives. In this paper the authors discuss the course design process, and the decisions made to address the course objective. The order of the topics and the amount of emphasis, along with the nature of activities, assessment methods, and other such related issues are revisited in the light of the activity-based approach.

In this paper we provide an alternative way of estimating α by combining the ratios r _i under some specific conditions. Under these conditions the authors have discussed the approximate distribution of each ratio r_i as well as the approximate distribution of the statistic based on the combined ratios. The proposed estimation methodology can be extended to address the case of three or more correlated measurements. Further, the properties of the confidence intervals of α, based on the proposed estimates have been investigated and simulation study is used to compare the proposed confidence intervals of α with the intervals computed from existing methods. It is assumed that the variance covariance matrices ∑_x and ∑_y are unknown and unequal.

in higher education. However, one of the main concerns in TPD is that the

traditional workshop format constrains active participation and the consequent

creation of usable knowledge for teaching. In response to this challenge, we

developed a series of teacher-centred online Teacher Professional Development

(oTPD) programmes using a problem-based learning approach. We created

opportunities for participants to engage in the oTPD programmes and to construct

usable knowledge that could be immediately applied in their own class

contexts. The study presents examples of oTPD, findings, and lessons learned

for successful implementation of teacher-centred oTPD programmes in higher

education. This study will be particularly beneficial to the practitioners who plan

to implement oTPD programme for university teachers.

In Meaningful Course Revision: Enhancing Academic Engagement Using Student Learning Data, Wehlburg persuasively argues that letting evidence guide change and innovation is perhaps the only way to break the dysfunctional tradition of what may be termed “teaching as telling” and “grading to the bell curve.” Throughout the book, Wehlburg convincingly argues that assessment is not yet another chore that faculty and administrators are obliged to perform, but an integrated set of activities that enhances learning and provides the feedback teachers and institutions need in order to improve learning outcomes and implement innovations in teaching. In Chapter 1, “Data-based Decision-Making,” Wehlburg effectively makes the case for data-driven course redesign. Better yet, in Chapter 2, Wehlburg asserts that many faculty members are already engaged in performing assessments, they are just not aware of how to make use of the data to revise their courses.

tools – languages, models, and techniques – in service of decidedly nonneutral

institutional goals. We challenge the value of perpetuating the ideal of

the neutrality of academic developers and their tools by examining the ways in

which our resources and approaches produce imbalances of control, power, and

authority in a consulting relationship. We suggest that the values embedded

within the practices of academic development lead developers, and the people

they help, to act inauthentically. By recognizing the improbability of neutrality

in academic development work, the authors seek to open the way to constructive

reflection, intentional practice, and ethical consulting choices.

Our primary goal was to separate the active components of elderberry and assess their inhibitory effects on the growth of multiple cancerous and transformed cell lines, as well as characterize their effects on stimulation of T lymphocyte proliferation and IL-2 secretion in vitro. Murine melanoma model experiments were also performed with crude elderberry and elderberry fractions to analyze the tumor-suppressive activity of elderberry treatments in vivo. Spleen cell proliferation and in vivo experiments were also performed with different aged groups of mice to uncover the tumor –inhibiting and immune-inducing effects of elderberry and active elderberry fractions on aged mice. Active elderberry fractions were then preliminarily identified.

All separated elderberry fractions were able to significantly suppress the growth of B16-F10 murine melanoma and SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cells in vitro. Several separated fractions also inhibited growth of a human melanoma cell line, MeWo, and a transformed non-cancerous line, CHO-K1. When incubated with concanavalin A (Con A, a known mitogen) and spleen cells from a middle aged and old mouse, separated fractions of elderberry did not increase proliferation above the positive control (cells incubated with con A only) , however, they induced a larger proliferation response in the older mouse spleen cells. Three active fractions induced secretion of IL-2 from spleen cells above the positive control. In general, mice induced to produce tumors developed smaller, localized tumors when treated with crude elderberry compared to mice treated with water, whose tumors were larger and metastatic. The active elderberry fractions were too potent to be successfully implemented in an in vivo experiment, and need to be diluted for future mouse model experiments. Of the four primary anthocyanins in elderberry, cyanidin 3-sambubioside and cyanidin 3-glucoside were identified as the major tumor-inhibiting, immune-inducing components in different active fractions separated from elderberry.

The positive benefits of active fractions on tumor suppression and potentially on modulation of immune-inducing mechanisms provide further support for the use of bioactive phytochemicals in preventative cancer treatment.

Reprinted as "Philosophy: What it is and Why" in Statements, edited for classroom use by Kathleen Squadrito (Boston: Ginn, 1984), pp. 1-10.