Teach 180: The Model Solution Mix-Up (Day 94)

In AP Statistics today, I used an activity that Bob Lochel introduced at a PASTA (Philadelphia Area Statistics Teacher Association) meeting about two weeks ago.  The AP Free Response questions have model solutions that are posted by the College Board and it is sometimes hard to know exactly how to use those solutions with our students.  If the students simply read the solution, they are lulled into the sense of thinking they know how to explain a concept when they really don't.  Bob proposed a better way to use the model solution as a teaching tool.  This blog entry describes Bob's suggestion.

Today we were reviewing for the Chapter 7 test on Sampling Distributions.  We used the Question #3 from the 2007 AP exam.   I had students initially work independently to solve the problem.  We then discussed the answers to parts a and b.  Finally, they worked in pairs to organize the following strips of paper into a model solution.  Among the 15 strips of paper, there where 5 "red herrings" or "distractors".  Although students had difficulty with the ordering of some of the strips, they were able to identify the extra slips of paper pretty easily.  If you are an AP Stat teacher, I encourage you to try it out for yourselves.