Newswise — Canton, N.Y. - Statistically, it is improbable that an entire family of five would write a textbook together and get it published. Maybe that's why the Lock family, including St. Lawrence University Cummings Professor of Mathematics Patti Frazer Lock and Burry Professor of Statistics Robin Lock, were so determined to make it happen.The Locks, along with all three children - Kari Lock Morgan, Eric Lock and St. Lawrence Class of 2008 graduate Dennis Lock - are the authors of the text Statistics: Unlocking the Power of Data, published by Wiley.
The book is unusual not only because of the authors, but also because it presents an entirely new way to teach an introductory-level statistics course, using visual methods to enable students to effectively collect, analyze and interpret conclusions from data. Real data and real applications are used, and all are problems or situations that students can relate to in their lives.
A companion to the book is a freely available set of online statistical tools, called StatKey, and the datasets to that go along with the book. StatKey was developed mostly at St. Lawrence, by Associate Professor of Computer Science Ed Harcourt, student Kevin Angstadt '14 and former faculty member Richard Sharp.
For the three years that the family worked on the project, there were some ground rules. Patti Lock says, "I knew there would be disagreements, because we are all so passionate about the topic. But we said, right from the start, that family harmony is more important than the book!"
She adds that, as a parent, "interacting with our children, in a professional way, has been very rewarding."
Robin Lock is now in the fourth semester of using the book's method of teaching an intro statistics course, and has seen for himself how well it works. "I've had to make my exams harder, because the students have caught on so well, the tests were becoming too easy for them," he says. "The computer simulations allow students to see the processes, rather than just memorize the formulas. They really 'get it,' and much earlier in the course than before."
Kari Lock Morgan is an assistant professor in statistical science at Duke University. Eric Lock is pursuing post-doctoral studies at Duke, and Dennis Lock is in the process of earning the Ph.D. in statistics at Iowa State University.
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