J. Todd Lee presents at international statistics education conference

Mixed kernel empirical distribution displayed with individual "sand" layers.[/caption]Professor of Mathematics Todd Lee presented a paper at the Ninth International Conference On Teaching Statistics held in Flagstaff, Ariz., July 13-18. The paper, which he co-wrote with N.C. State University Professor Hollylynne Lee, was invited in the session for “Innovation and reform in teaching probability within statistics: Modeling distributions to connect chance processes, data production, and data distributions”.

Visual Representations of Empirical Probability Distributions when using the Granular Density Metaphor

Abstract: This paper is an expository on searching for intuitive visualizations of empirical probability distributions. The visualizations use the granular density metaphor for probability density functions (Lee & Lee, 2009) to provide a way for students to build from equiprobable intuitions of probability to standard discrete and continuous distributions. The visualizations dynamically link the sampling process with the formation of an empirical distribution, while remaining true to the granular density metaphor for both the empirical and theoretical density functions. We present and discuss several examples along with conceptual and mathematical ideas that support use of these visualizations.