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Peer Review

Understanding Uncertainty

Reviewed:

Feb 25, 2020 by Sociology
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Ratings

Overall Rating: 3.8 stars
Content Quality: 4.0 stars
Effectiveness: 3.5 stars
Ease of Use: 4.0 stars
Overview:

The website explores uncertainty and risk by examining probability and statistics in society. The site serves as a repository featuring scholarly research, blogs, videos, animations, articles assessing quantitative and qualitative approaches to understanding the mathematics of probability and statistics.

Type of Material:

  • Collection
  • Learning object repository
  • Reference material
  • Open education resource (OER)
Recommended Uses:

  • In-class
  • Homework
  • Individual and team assignments
  • Lecture
Technical Requirements:

  • Internet Explorer or applicable browser
  • Flash for accessing videos and animations (Note that Flash will no longer be supported after early 2020 and may not be available.)
Identify Major Learning Goals:

  • The learner will be able to explain probability statistics using multiple social examples and contexts.
  • The learner will be able to evaluate risk and uncertainty in human social life with the use of data and statistical evidence.
  • The learner will understand the value and use of mathematical probability and statistics in decision-making.
Target Student Population:

College General Ed, College Lower Division.

Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:

Basic understanding of concepts in probability, statistics, and research methods.

Content Quality

Rating:
Strengths:

This is a collection of material that reinforces basic statistical knowledge of probablility and uncertainty.  The animations, videos and links to other resources are of particular interest.

Concerns:

This site has not been updated since 2016 although many of the resources are timeless in demonstrating concepts used in data analysis.  Access to supplementary sources vary and are not consistently or readily available.  Some pages could not be found.  Additional resources and readings will be required to offer a comprehensive review of the topic and subject.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:
Strengths:

  • A variety of supplemental materials and resources are embedded on the site or provide direct access using hyperlinks.
  • Materials include diverse social topics and trends.
Concerns:

Unlike many collections, this site does not offer teaching resources.  The instructor would have to identify learning objectives prior to visiting this site.  Instructors and students will need to use additional learning materials and/or other external resources to re-enforce discipline specific content related to specific course learning outcomes,

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:
Strengths:

The video and animation resources are interesting and are designed to engage the learner. The site is well organized by type of resource and there are a variety of topics available for each resource type or category.  The site is useful and assists learners in identifying primary and secondary sources that coincide with subject matter.

Concerns:

The topics are not organized to allow quick access to information. A subtopic menus for each area would have made locating resources easier. Not all internal and external sources meet accessibility requirements (i.e., YouTube videos).

Other Issues and Comments:

The website serves as a good resource for exploring or investigating probability and statistics related to society. There is a variety of sources on the site including scholarly works, blogs, videos, animations, and articles that may be used to learn general concepts related to risk and uncertainty, examine special social topics or issues, and assess understanding of mathematical probability and statistics.

Creative Commons:
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