A Sequence of Games Useful in Teaching Experimental Design to Agriculture Students

Abstract

In this article a sequence of statistical games is described that were found useful for teaching statistics to agriculture students. The ideas of experimental design tend to be neglected in statistics service courses for agriculturalists because of the practical difficulty of allowing students to learn design by experience. Simulating experiments in the classroom or on the computer console is a viable alternative and should be more widely used. In this article, three games—TOMATO, CHICK, and SELECT—are described. Other games can be invented. The relevance of using games extends to fields other than agriculture.

Key Words:

• Games
• Teaching
• Experimental design
• Interactive computing