Supporting Freeware For Statistical Lectures - Rkward

Until recently, the only statistical software used in the introductory statistical lessons in VSB-TU Ostrava were STATGRAPHICS Plus 5.1 and SPSS Statistics V23.0. Fact that neither of them is free to use creates two main problems. First problem is related to the licence limitation that doesn't allow software to be distributed outside the class so students can't use it on their own computers at home. The second problem is that after finishing the course in most cases students won't actually use such software in practice nor their further studies. In order to enable students to transfer their knowledge from lectures to practice, the appropriate statistical freeware is needed for the introductory course. Among other solutions under consideration, the free open-source GUI (Graphical User Interface) RKWard for R programming language appears to be the most suitable one, because its build in plugin architecture allows teacher to adapt the GUI for the requirements of the specific subject. Plus the rising popularity of R creates an opportunity to introduce students to modern programming language used in a wide range of areas. Our paper describes the RKWard extension and modification that were made for the purposes of the introductory statistical lectures at VSB-TU Ostrava.