Stop and Smell the Roses: An Activity for Teaching the Central Limit Theorem

Abstract

Undergraduate psychology students in two statistics classes (N = 77) counted blooms on rose bushes on campus using sample sizes of either 30 or 60 bushes, and submitted sample means and standard deviations to an online database. Students used that database to graph sampling distributions and complete other homework problems. Students preferred the activity to lecture, found it helpful for understanding sampling distributions and a majority listed it as a favourite class activity (n = 48). A pretest and posttest evaluation of learning administered to one course section showed a statistically significant learning increase. This memorable, enjoyable and effective activity exposes students to practical research challenges and can be replicated using other dependent variables found in naturalistic environments.