This paper is a technology case study that addresses the theme of using clicker technology in a large lecture format undergraduate introduction to statistics class to develop student conceptual understanding of inference. The paper will present one of a suite of activities designed to help students develop conceptual understanding inference. The activity, targeting understanding of the process of hypothesis testing and the meaning of the p-value, has been implemented in a large lecture

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... ory statistics course in which the students use calculators to perform a trial of a simulation and clickers to report the results of the trial. Design features of the activity along with slides and student responses will be shared. An extension of the activity designed to improve student understanding of Type I and II errors and power as well as classroom implementation issues and future directions for research will be discussed. INTRODUCTION In 2006, the Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education (GAISE) Project, funded and endorsed by the American Statistical Association (ASA), produced a report about the current status of and recommended directions for introductory statistics courses at the undergraduate level. Central to the recommendations for teaching introductory statistics made by the GAISE committee were the following: foster active learning in the classroom, stress conceptual understanding rather than mere knowledge of procedures, use assessment to improve and evaluate student learning, and use real data (GAISE, 2006). At many tertiary institutions, however, the introductory statistics classes are taught in large lecture format. At Michigan State University (MSU), where the author held an academic position, such courses have enrollments of 120-330 students per lecture. The 2005-2006 total enrollment at MSU in introductory statistics courses, those that do not have a statistical prerequisite, was over 4000 students, or more than 11% of the undergraduate student body. Given these large numbers, it is unlikely that the large lecture format of these courses will change. This format makes it difficult to foster active learning and conceptual understanding and to use formative assessment efficiently to improve student learning. Personal Response Systems (PRS or "clickers") are a technology that allows instructors to move away from didactic lecture formats towards more active learning strategies that encourage student participation and are consistent with research on active learning. McGowan and Gunderson (2010) provide a comprehensive review of the literature on clickers, including the limitations of previous clicker research; their findings lead them to conclude that "as with any new technology....clickers may not be successful if they are not used in a well-planned, purposeful manner" (p. 29). In response to McGowan and Gunderson, this paper presents a technology case study of a purposeful implementation of clicker use in statistics. It describes the implementation of one of a suite of activities that marry a simulation approach to teaching statistics with clicker technology for collecting results from a large number of students. The activities were designed with the purpose of improving conceptual understanding of statistical inference and addressing the recommendations of the GAISE report in a large-lecture, introductory statistics class. The combination of large numbers of students generating random distributions with their calculators and then reporting them using their clickers, provides not only an active learning environment, but also allows students to experience statistical concepts such as distributions, variability, the Central Limit Theorem, and the conceptual underpinnings of inference in ways that they cannot experience without these technologies. In many respects, the large class becomes a learning asset, rather than a liability, that can be leveraged to target student conceptual understanding of statistical inference.