Skip to content
Prev 158 / 885 Next

purpose of list

I had some minor role in the creation of this list.  At times I have
complained that members have been too harsh in redirecting queries
whose proper home seemed to me debatable.  But as time has gone on I
have to admit that too much (most?) of the traffic on this list is
about how to make R work rather than how to use it in education.  So,
trying to think positively, let me toss out some general EDUCATIONAL
questions.  How are people using R for educational purposes?  What do
people think of the various GUI or alternate (e.g., spreadsheet)
interfaces?  Is there anything that makes R as easy to use for
beginners as, say, Minitab?  What about using R for educational
simulations?  Is R the tool for replacing what George Cobb calls a
"Ptolemaic curriculum"?

       http://repositories.cdlib.org/uclastat/cts/tise/vol1/iss1/art1/ 

If anyone wants to respond it might help to briefly describe your
student audience.  While I am attracted to the power of R, many of the
folks who ask me about R are attracted by the price.  That is
especially important in a number of contexts I work with:


my own online courses where we have no computer labs for
students who must get their own software, often paying full
single-copy prices

public high schools in the U.S. where student computer access at
school is limited and it is very helpful to give students something
they can install on a computer at home

people teaching in less wealthy nations
------->  First-time AP Stats. teacher?  Help is on the way! See

 http://courses.ncssm.edu/math/Stat_Inst/Stats2007/Bob%20Hayden/Relief.html
	    
  Robert W. Hayden in the old library at  212 Main Street (P. O. Box 450)
  North Troy, VT 05859  phone (802) 988-2587  web site http://statland.org/      
  email  bob statland.org  (add your own "@" and save me some spam)
Message-ID: <20090630113249.90610.qmail@mv.mv.com>
In-Reply-To: <68b1e2610906292351x5550009i525c223547a3f36e@mail.gmail.com> from "Liviu Andronic" at Jun 30, 2009 08:51:35 AM