Statistics Teaching and Technology Studies (STATS)

Advancing Student Success in Introductory Statistics

Every year, nearly 1.5 million undergraduate students in the United States take an introductory statistics course. Many plan to use the course to fulfill their college math requirement, and if they don’t succeed in the course by earning a C grade or better, their chances of earning a college degree decrease dramatically.

At the same time, the statistics field is changing. Big data, online data analysis applications, and increasingly complex data simulations open up new possibilities for how statistics is taught.

Digital Promise is nearing the end of a multi-year effort to study statistics teaching practices and courseware that advance outcomes for students of varied backgrounds. Those who have historically achieved lower grades and experienced more difficulty with the coursework are a particular focus. We have been working with statistics faculty from across the country to identify better ways to teach and learn.

About

Increasing numbers of students are coming to college with gaps in their mathematics skills. Nationally, 3 out of 10 students enrolling in Introductory Statistics will not earn college credit for the course. Among students from low-income backgrounds and those who identify as Black or Latinx, course success rates are even lower.

We believe that many more students can succeed and thrive in university statistics courses with proper support, excellent teaching, and engaging materials and activities that make statistics concepts and methods relevant.

In September 2022, we started our initial efforts to develop a cohort of college and university statistics professors from across the nation. With support from the Gates Foundation, Digital Promise has conducted implementation and efficacy research with four cohorts of instructors to determine whether the new courseware achieves its goals.

Over this ongoing, multi-year research project, Digital Promise continues to release study reports sharing the status of our research. Watch this space and check out our publications and resources for updates and early findings from our research.

Our Reach

Digital Promise has partnered with college and university statistics faculty and institutions across the country in our multi-year research project examining how interactive courseware combined with ethics-minded, student-centered pedagogy affect statistics learning outcomes and course success.

Four cohorts have contributed to understanding of how to enhance engagement and learning in Introductory Statistics, especially for those entering college with holes in their preparation for college-level math.

Cohort participants include:

• 38 institutions of higher education (17 two-year institutions and 21 four-year institutions)
• 69 instructors teaching 195 classes
• More than 6,500 students

Publications and Resources

We communicate research-based insights and processes as an integral part of our knowledge-sharing commitment. Discover the latest STATS publications and resources.

Reports

• Means, B., Neisler, J., Parker, D., Peters Hinton, V., & Pressler, E (2026, May). Lessons from implementing courseware in gateway statistics courses. Digital Promise: https://doi.org/10.51388/20.500.12265/292
• Koch, M., & Peters Hinton, V. (2025). Voices of Undergraduate Students Taking Introductory Statistics Courses [Project Report]. Digital Promise. https://doi.org/10.51388/20.500.12265/242
• Peters, V., Pressler, E., Neisler, J., & Means, B. (2024). What Conversational AI Can (and Can’t) Tell Us About Peer Interaction in Higher Education. In Lindgren, R., Asino, T. I., Kyza, E. A., Looi, C. K., Keifert, D. T., & Suárez, E. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 18th International Conference of the Learning Sciences – ICLS 2024 (pp. 2479-2480). International Society of the Learning Sciences. https://repository.isls.org//handle/1/11077
• Means, B., & Neisler, J. (2023). Bridging Theory and Measurement of Student Engagement: A Practical Approach. Online Learning, 27(4). https://doi.org/10.24059/olj.v27i4.4034