Barker presented at NCMATYC on the use of a new tool in CODAP for statistics instructors as well as her current efforts on integrating social justice into her statistics courses.
Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Statistics Heather Barker presented two sessions at the 35th Annual Conference of North Carolina Mathematical Association of Two Year Colleges (NCMATYC) held at Wake Technical Community College in Raleigh, North Carolina on March 16 and 17.
Barker’s first session, titled “Developing Data Storytellers Using Story Builder,” highlighted a plug-in available in CODAP (Common Online Data Analysis Platform), a free online statistical software. CODAP is a powerful tool to help visualize datasets. The plug-in is helpful in giving students the power to tell their own stories using data. She co-presented with her colleague Asli Mutlu, assistant professor of mathematics at Wake Technical Community College.
The second session, titled “Teaching Statistics for Social Justice,” highlighted the efforts Barker has used to infuse datasets, assignments and activities into her statistics courses that focus on issues around social justice. During the session, she shared a literature review she is working on, activities that she has used, as well as the beginnings of a framework to create tasks specific to teaching social justice in statistics. This session was particularly well attended and led to fruitful discussions about the constraints many in the state have faced when trying to introduce similar topics in their own courses.
Before joining the faculty at Elon, Barker taught community college courses in North Carolina for five years and served on the board of NCMATYC for four years. She is a lifetime member of NCMATYC and enjoys presenting and attending this conference each year.