Stat Prep: A Bridge to Statistics, is designed for students who will be taking an introductory statistics course in the near future. It introduces the essential skills, concepts, notation, and vocabulary that are needed to succeed in such a course. In this way, Stat Prep provides students with an opportunity to get a head start. It will be a great advantage to enroll in a statistics course having already mastered the basics.

The collegiate mathematics curriculum is currently undergoing a great shift. With the increased enrollment by non-STEM majors in the statistics track, the need has arisen for a textbook that prepares those students with the full complement of prerequisite statistics skills. With this in mind, we have written Stat Prep: A Bridge to Statistics to address the remediation and recency issues that students contemplating enrolling in an Introductory Statistics course might have.

Statistics is a language in its own right, with its own vocabulary, notation, syntax, and graphics. The goal of this text is simple: offer students an opportunity to learn how to read, write, think, and speak at a fundamental level using the language of statistics. With this outcome in mind, we have developed the following course objectives:

1. Numeracy: Demonstrate numeracy with an emphasis on decimals, fractions, percents, and units of measurement.

2. Notation and Terminology: Communicate with proper mathematical notation, terminology, and formulas.

3. Calculator Technology: Evaluate math expressions using scientific and graphing calculators.

4. Visual Representations: Interpret, analyze, and create visual representations for data and mathematical concepts.

5. Sets: Describe and interpret sets, conditions that define sets, and relationships between sets.

6. Statistical Models: Describe data using statistical models or concepts with an emphasis on measures of central tendency, variation, position, and regression.

7. Normal Curve: Identify the concept of the standard normal curve.

8. Decision Making: Analyze problems and make good decisions based on supporting mathematical principles.

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