Using Real-Life Major League Baseball Data In An Introductory Statistics Course

A primary goal of introductory statistics courses is to develop a student's ability to think statistically. To motivate students to this end, the literature suggests that statistics courses use exercises that are relevant and familiar to students. Work in educational psychology highlights the importance of connecting new concepts to pre-existing knowledge, mental models, or schema. One method to meet these criteria is to develop exercises and problems that use real-life data. While real-life data provide a context for the application of statistical methods, the data does not necessarily provide a context or process for developing the ability to think statistically. This teaching brief describes a set of logical, sequential, and ready-to-use exercises that motivate statistical inquiry and thought in line with the GAISE College Report recommendations. The exercises use real-life data freely sourced from Major League Baseball and the nonfiction story of Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game. Student reactions indicate that these exercises, which are anchored in real-life data with a real-life story, are successful in motivating student interest in statistics.