ESG math teaching combines targeted pre–readings, small classes with highly interactive lectures mixed with problem solving and discussion, projects, and ample mentorship from TAs. Staff from ESG and the mathematics department worked together to scale these methods to a class with many more students by redesigning 18.05 (Introduction to Probability and Statistics) as a flipped, active learning course in a TA–filled Technology Enabled Active Learning (TEAL) classroom. They wrote comprehensive materials for a new, unified introduction to probability, Bayesian inference, and frequentist statistics. In this class, students also develop computational skills and statistical thinking by using R to simulate, analyze, and visualize data and by exploring privacy, fairness, and causality in contemporary media and research. 18.05 is among the most popular math courses on OpenCourseWare and student evaluations, and it now satisfies a requirement for many majors, including Course 6 (Electrical Engineering and Computer Science). Currently, ESG is working to develop and scale 18.05 to multiple sections (100 to 200 students) in collaboration with the mathematics department.

In collaboration with Mathematics

Supported by ESG, Mathematics, and Davis Educational Foundation