Frequently Asked Questions
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question 1 ▸
Is redPanda a statistical package?
 answer ▸
No, unlike Minitab, SPSS, or SAS, redPanda is not a statistical
software package. Nor, like R, is it a statistical programming language.
It is specifically designed as a tool for teaching and learning beginning
statistical concepts within the purview of a high school or initial
collage level statistics class - hence the designation as statistical
courseware.
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question 2 ▸
What does redPanda provide that statistical packages do not?
answer ▸
The redPanda courseware generates output that will typically match
the instructional content given in classroom slides, textbook references,
or on-line tutorials
[1].
The courseware provides supplementary screens that display notation
[2],
textbook references, formulas with intermediate computations
[3],
procedure schema, and procedure assumptions.
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question 3 ▸
Instead of redPanda why not use AI tools?
answer ▸
There are a number of issues with students using AI. First, beginning
level students (in any field) cannot always be expected to be precise enough to effectively
query AI systems or be capable of assessing the content that is generated. AI is also well
know to have problems with computational processing. And even though statistics at an
undergraduate level would not be considered computationally difficult, using AI to
generate statistical results should be avoided. On a positive note, be aware that AI is
very effective in providing simple R code and SAS code segments for statistical analysis.
Although, for medium to complex coding tasks it is very important that a users be able to
assess, test, and correct any AI generate code. Remember that AI will provide a result.
What puts AI in doubt as an educational tool is that it still requires the user a
significant effort to verify that the result is correct!
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question 4 ▸
How does redPanda help teachers?
answer ▸
Given how easy redPanda is to use, teachers are able to:
- present more examples in class
- assign more exercises for homework
- integrate more built-in background information into lectures
- quickly generate quizzes and tests
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question 5 ▸
Does redPanda help students transition to other tools?
answer ▸
Yes, redPanda assumes that if students continue to work with statistics
they will need to learn several additional computational and analysis tools.
To that end, for many procedures, redPanda provides instructional screens
showing how to accomplish a given task or analysis with the Ti-84 CE
calculator, the R programming code, or both.
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note ▸
For a limited time, redPanda is available for free at:
rp-stat.com
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