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DataScope

DataScope® is a Macintosh data analysis program with accompanying data sets and instructional activities for grades 9-13. The design of DataScope was heavily influenced by our belief that the best way to motivate students to learn and use statistical techniques is through exploring issues of concern to them. It was designed to be computationally powerful yet simple to use. Displays include histograms, box plots, scatterplots, one and two-way tables of frequencies, and tables of descriptive statistics. The software is intended for use in introductory courses stressing exploratory data analysis of fairly large data sets. It encourages students to make initial judgments of relationship by visually comparing plots. A generalized "grouping" capability permits the formation of plots (and tables) grouped on different levels of a chosen variable. Additional features include point ID on scatterplots and box plots, and random resampling for testing hypotheses about differences between two medians, frequencies in a 2 X 2 table, and correlation coefficients.

We have used DataScope to support student projects in which they formulate their own questions, collect and analyze their data, and write a brief report. We also have made use of several large data sets, including results of a student survey, almanac-type information on 104 countries, and Olympic gold-record times/distances from a selection of track-and-field events. These data sets are incorporated into the instructional units we designed for use with the software. Below we describe one of these instructional units. We include screen shots from DataScope and examples of curriculum materials. Do not reproduce or translate any of these materials without permission of the author.

The following articles and reviews provide additional information about using DataScope. See also the Chance Plus Project.

Articles

Konold, C. (1995). Datenanalyse mit einfachen, didaktisch gestalteten Softwarewerkzeugen für Schülerinnen und Schüler. Computer und Unterricht, 17, 42-49. (English version: "Designing data analysis tools for students.")

Konold, C. (1995). Issues in assessing conceptual understanding in probability and statistics. Journal of Statistics Education, 3(1). (http://www.amstat.org/publications/jse/v3n1/konold.html)

Konold, C. (1994). Understanding probability and statistical inference through resampling. In L. Brunelli & G. Cicchitelli (Eds.), Proceedings of the First Scientific Meeting of the International Association for Statistical Education (pp. 199-211). Perugia, Italy: Università di Perugia.

Reviews

Ernie, K. (1996). Technology reviews: DataScope and Prob Sim. Mathematics Teacher, 89, 359-360.

Garfield, J. (1995). Software review: DataScope and Prob Sim. The Statistics Teacher Network, Winter , p. 7.

DataScope can still be used on Macintosh computers from the 1992-2007 era (download).