Teaching Statistics to Engineers: Learning from Experiential Data

Abstract

The purpose of the work is to claim that engineers can be
motivated to study statistical concepts by using the applications in their experience
connected with Statistical ideas.

The main idea is to choose a data from the manufacturing factility (for example,
output from CMM machine) and explain that even if the parts used do not meet
exact specifications they are used in production. By graphing the data one can show
that the error is random but follows a distribution, that is, there is regularily in the data in
statistical sense. As the error distribution is continuous, we advocate that the concept of
randomness be introducted starting with continuous random variables with probabilities
connected with areas under the density.

The discrete random variables are then introduced in terms of decision connected
with size of the errors before generalizing to abstract concept of probability.
Using software, they can then be motivated to study statistical analysis of the data
they encounter and the use of this analysis to make engineering and management decisions.