Integration of Statistical Methods in the IDS 210 Honors Seminar

2008 Presidential Election

Greenville Technical College

Implementation Dates: August 2008-May 2009

Description of Project: To graduate with honors, students in the Honors Program are required to take one interdisciplinary seminar. A new IDS course to be offered in the Fall of 2008 will examine the presidential election. One of the units will focus on the Electoral College method of selecting the president and alternative plans that have been suggested. Students will be divided into groups and be given a set of data that includes results from four previous presidential elections, two elections that were quite close and two that were just the opposite. In addition to calculating the winner of these elections under each of four alternative plans, the students will also conduct statistical analyses to aid in their understanding of the implications of using each plan.

The students will complete this project in the group setting. After all data have been compiled, the student groups will then present their findings to the class in a formal presentation setting.

The project will then be refined for use in PSC 201, American Government, classes in the following semester.

Outcomes for Students/Project:

Students who complete this section of IDS 210 will be able to do the following:

• Explain the current Electoral College system and alternative plans for selecting the president

• Demonstrate how to calculate the winner under each plan for any election

• Create graphical presentations of the data using Microsoft Excel

• Using graphics, identify and explain which of the plans for selecting the president best reflects “one person, one vote”

• Using graphics, identify and explain which plans are more likely to result in the selection of a president other than the one that the Electoral College would have chosen

• Identity and explain which, if any, states have an advantage in selecting the president using each plan

• Using graphics, identify and explain which plan would be most likely to aid in the development of a multi-party system

• Analyze data to determine whether the difference in outcome among the plans is statistically significant

• Deliver a well thought out formal presentation that incorporates analysis of data.

Assignment (See attached file for actual assignment.):

• Students will be divided into groups for this project.

• Each group will be given four alternative plans for electing the US president. (See attached assigment with plans.)

• Each group will be given a different set of presidential election data: data from two past elections that were considered close and data from two others. (Close elections: 1960, 1968, 1976, 1992; Other elections: 1972, 1980, 1984, 1988)

• Each group will be given a list of questions that must be answered. Some of these questions will require mathematical calculations.

• Ms. Amick and Ms. Hawkins will attend the IDS class to teach the students the statistics necessary to complete the questions.

• The groups will make formal presentations summarizing their answers to the questions.

• Ms. Trumbo will attend the IDS class to work with the students in developing their presentations.