1. Determine the validity of a published scientific study or other research using statistical knowledge.

2. Identify the population, sample, study type, and variables in a real-world published research study.

3. Use statistical knowledge and skills to be an educated consumer and user of data and information.

4. Connect statistical information and findings of a research study to climate justice and environmental racism.

5. Use statistics to respectfully engage in open dialogues about social and climate justice.

This project is used at the beginning of an introductory statistics class to give a real world example of how to determine components of a study. It is tied in with other activities that explore the topics of social and climate justice, while learning vocabulary and applications of statistics.

The vocabulary and statistical concepts that a student should know prior to this activity are experimental and observational study types; gold standard methods of research; identifying population, sample, subject of study; how to classify quantitative or qualitative data; and if the data were obtained by discrete or continuous sampling methods. A basic understanding of these concepts guides students into the more formal data analysis portions of statistics, which is the focus of this activity. Students do not need computational mathematics knowledge to complete this lesson. Another purpose of doing this near the beginning of the course is to build community in the classroom, since it is a topic that students can discuss and engage in without extensive computational mathematics skills.

The project is a formative assessment of students' ability to apply knowledge of statistical vocabulary and identify the validity of a study. As such, the project can be done individually, in an in-person, online, or hybrid course. It can be easily adapted into a group project or class activity. I typically do this as an individual project and we have a class discussion about it after each student completes the project. If you choose to have a classroom discussion or do group work, a physical classroom or online learning management systems or other online platform would be needed.

I used this activity with a class size of 36 community college students in a small classroom. For much larger classes, such as classes conducted in large lecture halls with stadium-style seating, it would be difficult to do the group work part of this activity during lecture time. Instead, the group work could be done in breakout or discussion sessions where students meet in smaller groups at other times. This activity could work for an introductory statistics class at a 4-year college or university or could be adapted for a high school statistics course. It could also be done remotely and synchronously, such as on Zoom, where students can work in small groups in breakout rooms.

I recommend that students first complete the individual project on their own outside of class time. After each student has completed the individual project, I hold a group discussion about the contents of their project during class time. It takes about 10 to 15 minutes for students to discuss in small groups and then another 10 to 15 minutes to discuss as a class to tie everything together, for a class size of 36. During the class discussion, I introduce a second assignment that students do on their own as a follow-up to the project and group discussion. This second assignment is focused on a positive story of change, showing students how communities living in Cancer Corridor are addressing the problems that they face.

I use a Learning Management System (Canvas) to make assignment materials and resources available to students. Any Learning Management System would work. If you do not have access to a learning management system, then you could print out assignment materials and provide them to students during class time.

About 30 minutes of class time is needed to implement this activity with a class of about 36 students. This activity can also be used in an asynchronous online course. I have done both.

Instructor Preparation: Students watch a video as part of their project (Step 1 below). Before you assign the project, check the video link in the project document (provided under Step 1) and post project materials to a learning management system or print out and provide materials to students during the class session when you assign the project.

Step 1: Assigning the Project. Students get 5 days to do the project and must complete it before the in-class discussion (Step 2 below). For this project, students watch a video (which I created) that shows them how to be educated consumers of information by digging in deeper to find out the source of a piece of information they might read about in a popular article or in the news. I also discuss in the video the purpose of the project and the expectations for project completion. Next in the video, I show students how to find a scientific study that is an original source of information that may have been reported on by the mainstream media, for example, to a more general audience. After the video, I provide them with a web link to the actual study. For the project, they focus on the scientific study and answer a series of questions related to that study (see Cancer Corridor Project file below). I give the students a rubric that shows how they will be graded on the project at the same time that I give them the project assignment (see Cancer Corridor Project Evaluation Rubric file below).

Cancer Corridor Project.docx (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 23kB Feb1 24)

Cancer Corridor Project Evaluation Rubric.docx (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 20kB Feb1 24)

Step 2: In-class Discussion or Online Asynchronous Discussion Board

I have used this activity for both an in-person course in a classroom and also for an asynchronous online version of the course. It works well in both contexts.

For an in-person course in a classroom, I take about 30 total minutes of class time for classroom discussion, with about 15 of those minutes for student discussions in small groups and another 15 minutes for a large class discussion. It is most efficient to evenly spread specific questions to each group, but have everyone discuss question 9. For example, have "group 1" have the focus questions of #1 and #9, group 2 focus on #2 and #9, etc. Students self-select into groups of four students each for this discussion. I assign group member tasks, such as a time manager, a note taker, a speaker for the group, and a personnel manager who can make sure everyone in the group is participating and gets a chance to speak. If there are less than four students in a group, students can be given more than one task. Let students know they will be assessed on attendance during the discussion, active participation, and taking responsibility for their assigned role. For the large classroom discussion that follows the small groups discussions, I have a speaker from each group share their group's findings and thoughts. I take bulleted notes of these on a whiteboard visible to the class. I moderate the discussion to give space for each group or individual to share their findings and thoughts, and ask follow-up questions and give guidance as needed.

I do this in-person in a classroom, but the discussion could be done asynchronously as a Discussion Board set up on an online learning management system (I use Canvas). A way to do this asynchronously would be to have each student pick two of the project questions (see Cancer Corridor Project file), share their answers to them on the Discussion Board, and then respond to another student's discussion post with a thoughtful and detailed response that is reflective. I give them guidance on polite disagreement, in the event that they disagree. I encourage students to pick two questions that other students have not already posted about to add variety to the Discussion Board.

Step 3: Project Reflections and Positive Story of Change

This assignment is the last part of this activity. It is meant to help students reflect on the value of statistical discussions and the use of statistical concepts and skills in the context of real-world societal challenges related to climate and social justice. It is also intended to help students think about the positive impacts that empowered individuals can have on societal challenges, particularly the Cancer Corridor case study explored in this activity.Students start by reflecting on the project they did on their own (Step 1 above), the process of having open dialogue with their classmates about the statistical aspects of the issue during in-class group discussions (Step 2 above), and how they can be educated consumers of statistical information who can help spread awareness around issues of climate justice. Next, they listen to a podcast about the story of a woman activist living in Cancer Corridor and how she addresses the challenges she faces and then students respond to discussion question prompts on a discussion board (see Project Reflection & Follow-Up file below). As part of the Discussion Board, students describe and summarize the positive impact that the individual described in the podcast had on her community. Finally, students reflect on what they can do to make a difference when it comes to the climate crisis, based on what they heard in the podcast.

Project Reflection & Follow-Up.docx (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 15kB Feb1 24)

Discussing the project completed by individual students helps deepen their understanding, hear other's views, and have open dialogue about climate and social injustices. Climate justice can be a sensitive and polarizing topic in a classroom, both due to the focus on climate change and also the systemic aspects of social injustices that arise from climate impacts. Community-building in the classroom before this activity is implemented can be important and is foundational for this activity. I don't do this project without having students do a decent amount of group work beforehand. Before this activity, I do two other activities where students work in small groups that require a lot of teamwork and vulnerability in discussing issues. This builds the classroom community foundation on which discussion of climate justice is built.

For small group discussion, more guidance and specifics can be given to students in a rubric if there is concern that students may not understand what a small group discussion means or if you wish to have a more formal assessment of group participation. So far, I have not had a need to do this, but that may be because we start the course with a lot of group work and guidance on expectations around that.

Note that in small group discussions (Step 2) and on the reflection follow-up on a discussion board (Step 3) students may have differing views from other students or their professor. I do not deduct points for a difference of opinion. Points are earned for thoughtful responses and correct use of statistical knowledge in some cases.

1. Determine the validity of a published scientific study or other research using statistical knowledge.

This is formally assessed using each student's response to Question 6a and b of their project assignment (Step 1 in "Description and Teaching Materials" section above). For 6a, two points are earned if they accurately described two things that made the study valid and used gold standard vocabulary. One point is earned if they accurately described concepts that made the study more valid, but did not use gold standard vocabulary. One point is earned if they described one thing that made the study more valid and used gold standard vocabulary. Half a point is earned if they described one thing that made the study more valid, but did not use gold standard vocabulary.

2. Identify the population, sample, study type, and variables in a real-world published research study.

I assess whether students can identify the population, sample, study type, and variables from the Cancer Corridor research study that they read and explore for the project (Step 1 in "Description and Teaching Materials" section above). These things are assessed using students' response to project questions 3, 4, and 5. There are correct answers to these questions and offer feedback to students to help further their understanding of these statistical concepts.

3. Use statistical knowledge and skills to be an educated consumer and user of data and information.

I assess students' responses to project questions 6, 9a, 9b, 9c and 10; reflection question 3, and the two reflection questions in the third part of the follow-up assignment (Step 3) which is completed after they listen to the podcast. The answers to these questions are less definite. I give students credit as long as their response is thoughtful and they attempted to use statistical knowledge and skills to understand data and information. I offer feedback to help students improve their capacity to do this.

4. Connect statistical information and findings of a research study to climate justice and environmental racism.

I assess students' responses to project questions 9d, 9e, and 10 (Step 1) and project reflection questions 1 and 3 (Step 3). The answers to these questions are less definite. I give students credit as long as their response is thoughtful and they attempted to connect statistical information and research finding to the climate justice case study and environmental racism. I offer feedback to students to help them draw out the connections for students who struggle with this question. I tend to add a few more personalized feedback notes when it comes to the questions that discuss their personal views on the topic.

5. Use statistics to respectfully engage in open dialogues about social and climate justice.

This is an informal formative assessment of each student's participation in the small group discussions in the classroom (Step 2 in "Description and Teaching Materials" section above). I also assess their response to question 2 the reflection assignment (Step 3 in "Description and Teaching Materials" section above) by giving a small participation grade for thoughtful and detailed responses. I tend to add a few more personalized feedback notes when it comes to the questions that discuss their personal views on the topic.

This work is supported in part by the NSF-IUSE grant (DUE 2043535).

Project Introduction and How to Be An Educated Consumer of Information by Danielle Jacobson; last access here on 5 Feb 2024: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYRop6uum_U

Nagra, R. et al. "Waiting to Die": Toxic Emissions and Disease Near the Denka Performance Elastomer Neoprene Facility in Louisiana's Cancer Alley; last accessed here on 5 Feb 2024: https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/env.2020.0056 A pdf of the article can be accessed and provided to students here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/12n4vag-05p2KCoqgfiPORrpjFdH7CvaB/view

Grist Temperature Check. "In 'Cancer Alley,' a Teacher Called to Fight"; last accessed here in 5 Feb 2024: https://grist.org/temperature-check/sharon-lavigne-cancer-alley-industry-formosa/

Cancer Corridor Project file: Cancer Corridor Project.docx (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 23kB Feb1 24)

Cancer Corridor Project Evaluation Rubric file: Cancer Corridor Project Evaluation Rubric.docx (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 20kB Feb1 24)

Project Reflection & Follow-Up file Project Reflection & Follow-Up.docx (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 15kB Feb1 24)