Development of an open application for teaching statistics: conception and results

Abstract

Different commercial statistical software packages exist that are appropriate for teaching statistics. However, free alternatives are scarce, and those existing suffer from problems (such as difficult installations and bizarre interfaces) that make them not very usable. This paper presents the conception and implementation of a new application for statistical analysis with the following characteristics: free, simple to use, multi-platform, scalable and with a focus on statistical concepts and ideas. The whole development cycle will be explained in the presentation: first list of user requirements, design decisions, implementation and testing. The application is developed in R language and uses the shiny package for the user interface. Although the application obviously allows the analysis of real data through graphs and statistical methods, its main objective is facilitating the acquisition of statistical concepts. To accomplish this, menus, configuration options and results are presented in a way that fosters reflection on basic statistical ideas. The application has a special emphasis on industrial statistics. Initial feedback from users testing the application will be exposed, and ways to freely access and use the application will be presented.