Introductory Mathematics and Statistics through Sports

Book excerpt: Sport is a wildly popular and accessible pastime that most students find interest in. The link between mathematics and sports - particularly between statistics and sports - is well known, but is rarely used as a method for sparking a real interest and better understanding of mathematics at university level. Introductory Mathematics and Statistics through Sports develops this connection, and uses sport as a tool to help students get to grips with mathematics and statistics. It contains valuable resources, such as activities and writing projects for use in quantitative reasoning or introductory statistics classrooms. These inquiry-based activities and open-ended writing projects are all set in the authentic framework of a sporting environment and are designed to promote critical thinking and mathematical application skills that students can apply outside of the classroom. All activities and projects have been classroom-tested and are ready to be implemented as they are, or can be easily personalized by instructors with a helpful run-down of successes and misunderstandings for each project. Introductory Mathematics and Statistics through Sports places great emphasis on the communication, application, and internalization of mathematics for students whose primary interests are not necessarily in STEM fields.