Binary logistic regression is one of the most widely used statistical tools. The method uses odds, log odds, and odds ratios, which are difficult to understand and interpret. Understanding of logistic regression tends to fall down in one of three ways: (1) Many students and researchers come to believe that an odds ratio translates directly into…

This article describes a simple two-player game which illustrates basic concepts of brinkmanship, to include calculations of probability and expected outcomes, and risk-taking profiles. The game befits a single 50-minute class period with introduction, gameplay, and discussion. The game can supplement the study of conflict from classic Cold War…

This article describes the adaptation and use of the Monopoly® board game as a simple simulator to help introduce the principles of probability and risk. It focusses on teaching experiences in an undergraduate business program and offers a new approach to teaching probability and risk with dice to produce a collaborative simulated gaming…

To facilitate people using mathematical reasoning to compare risks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Science Foundation (NSF) funded the COViD-TASER (Creation of Visualizations of Data: The Application of STEM Education Research) research team to create the COVID-19 Relative Risk Tool (RRT). The RRT uses an interactive bar chart…

This article describes the incorporation of a dice game (piggy) to teach food safety hazards and risk in an engaging way in HACCP classes. Each player accumulates points by rolling two dice, but loses points in a turn when rolling a 7, or all accumulated points when rolling two consecutive doubles. This game helps explain the difference between a…

In order to be treated quantitatively, subjective gains and losses (utilities/disutilities) must be psychologically measured. If legitimate comparisons are sought between them, measurement must be at least interval level, with a common unit. If comparisons of absolute magnitudes across gains and losses are further sought, as in standard…

This article discusses 3 ways in which adaptive developmental mechanisms may produce maladaptive outcomes. First, natural selection may favor risky strategies that enhance fitness on average but which have detrimental consequences for a subset of individuals. Second, mismatch may result when organisms experience environmental change during…

This article describes two administrative data sources--UCAS applicant data and Higher Education Statistical Agency (HESA) data--and demonstrates how they can be utilised to monitor the progression of students from vocational and educational training (VET) programmes in to higher education (HE) in the UK. First the article provides a general…

The long history of outdoor education does little to alleviate the fears of many parents, teachers, principals and superintendents who believe that outdoor education is too risky. These decision makers often lack both the knowledge to make informed decisions and the time and resources to investigate their assumptions. Pair these circumstances with…

A lot of people risk money with bets on sport events or other events. Bookkeepers that offer such bets earn a lot of money. We are making a proposal (more exactly: a concept for a part of a basic mathematics course) for learning mathematics behind the screen (internet bets are very popular). Learners should organize a "sports event"…

A biology teacher has developed a rare and troubling neurologic disorder. He hears of an experimental treatment that has produced impressive results. The treatment involves surgically ablating selective parts of the brain at close proximity to the brainstem. There is a risk that, during the procedure, vital parts of the brain could be…

This paper develops a series of models for optimal tuition pricing for private colleges and universities. The university is assumed to be a profit maximizing, price discriminating monopolist. The enrollment decision of student's is stochastic in nature. The university offers an effective tuition rate, comprised of stipulated tuition less financial…

The underlying proposition for any experimental/therapeutic trial is the uncertainty that the risks of treatment will be outweighed by its benefits. For some therapeutic interventions (e.g., exercise programs, vitamin supplementation), the potential for treatment-emergent adverse events may prima facie be low or negligible, whereas for others…

The concept of risk has entered into physics courses in various guises. It is treated explicitly in the "Advancing Physics" [1] course and implicitly at GCSE through "Ideas and Evidence" discussions. This could easily lead to such ideas as the balance between treatment and risk in radiotherapy and the likelihood of an asteroid strike. In this…

Compares the odds ratio with the probability ratio (relative risk). These quantities arise, for example, in the analysis of educational and social science through logistic regression. (Author/SLD)