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A computer application created in a Taft College statistic class last fall is going viral.
The new app, approved by computer giant Apple Inc., is a data analysis program designed specifically for the company’s popular iPad.
Statistics professor Brian Jean last Thursday gave the college’s board of trustees a test drive of the application during a demonstration of how he is using the iPad as an instructional tool.
“I can put an entire course on this and students can take it with them,” he said.
The idea for a statistics application “started out as a use for the iPad but turned into a professional level” tool that can be used by the masses.
He told the board the app had been submitted to Apple and was going through the company’s review process.
After his report he left the meeting but returned a short time later.
“I just received an email from Apple that our app has been approved and it is out there for download right now,” he said. “That’s pretty exciting.”
Simply called “TC-Stats,” it costs $3.99 and all the proceeds will be used for scholarships for students studying science, technology, engineering or math (STEM).
Jean said an app like this isn’t a new concept.
He’s looked over what is available and determined they are not useful for his students – or anyone else serious about analyzing information.
“There are a couple of such programs available for the iPad, all of which fall well short of meeting student and professional needs,” he said. “We wrote this program with professional use in mind, wanting to give students the experience of a powerful data analysis platform and not some cutsie thing which is useful only for a particular class.”
He said students in his Stats 1510 day class last semester field tested the platform and contributed ideas before it was finished.
“Many of the features are a direct result of student input,” he said.
Jean said the app is coupled with Apple’s word processing software called Pages.
It will allow students to collect and analyze data using a wide variety of statistical techniques.
They can then create a report that includes histographs and images of graphs and tables “without ever leaving their iPad.”
Essentially, he said, his students “can do a complete research analysis on the iPad.”
A computer application created in a Taft College statistic class last fall is going viral.
The new app, approved by computer giant Apple Inc., is a data analysis program designed specifically for the company’s popular iPad.
Statistics professor Brian Jean last Thursday gave the college’s board of trustees a test drive of the application during a demonstration of how he is using the iPad as an instructional tool.
“I can put an entire course on this and students can take it with them,” he said.
The idea for a statistics application “started out as a use for the iPad but turned into a professional level” tool that can be used by the masses.
He told the board the app had been submitted to Apple and was going through the company’s review process.
After his report he left the meeting but returned a short time later.
“I just received an email from Apple that our app has been approved and it is out there for download right now,” he said. “That’s pretty exciting.”
Simply called “TC-Stats,” it costs $3.99 and all the proceeds will be used for scholarships for students studying science, technology, engineering or math (STEM).
Jean said an app like this isn’t a new concept.
He’s looked over what is available and determined they are not useful for his students – or anyone else serious about analyzing information.
“There are a couple of such programs available for the iPad, all of which fall well short of meeting student and professional needs,” he said. “We wrote this program with professional use in mind, wanting to give students the experience of a powerful data analysis platform and not some cutsie thing which is useful only for a particular class.”
He said students in his Stats 1510 day class last semester field tested the platform and contributed ideas before it was finished.
“Many of the features are a direct result of student input,” he said.
Jean said the app is coupled with Apple’s word processing software called Pages.
It will allow students to collect and analyze data using a wide variety of statistical techniques.
They can then create a report that includes histographs and images of graphs and tables “without ever leaving their iPad.”
Essentially, he said, his students “can do a complete research analysis on the iPad.”
