Intro to Statistics – Online Higher Education Course
This Intro to Statistics online course is a critical thinking class designed to help students see order in chaos. Students gain data analysis skills that help them better understand the world and make better decisions.
A New Way to Learn Statistics
In this statistics course, students will:
- Explain basic concepts of statistics and probability
- Solve basic statistical problems using R
- Understand, analyze, and criticize quantitative arguments using principles of statistics
- Use statistics to make inferences in a variety of real-world situations
Gen Ed That Simply Works

Turnkey Courses
With online, asynchronous courses that are ready to run, you can deliver high-quality learning and outcomes predictably and affordably.

Curriculum You Can Trust
Every course is recommended by the American Council on Education. So you can trust the curriculum meets rigorous academic standards.

Captivating Student Experience
Students enjoy cinematic lectures from experts in the field and interactive, mastery-based learning—all in a flexible, 14-week course that fits their schedules.

Unlimited Enrollment
With no minimum or maximum enrollment, students get the courses they need when they need them, so they stay on track in their degree program.
Discover the magic of learning with Intro to Statistics
Watch the Trailer
Using data to decode our world
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Key Concepts
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Learning Outcomes
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Assessments
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Educator Support
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World-Class Instructors
Key Statistics Concepts
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Statistics and Data
- The statistical process
- Data and sampling
- Experimental design and ethics
- Frequency distributions, histograms, box plots, and scatter plots
- Measures of center and spread
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Probability
- Rules of probability
- Contingency tables
- Random variables and probability distributions
- Discrete random variables
- Binomial distributions
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Continuous Random Variables and Confidence Intervals
- Continuous random variables and the uniform distribution
- The normal distribution
- The law of large numbers
- The central limit theorem
- Estimating confidence intervals using the normal distribution, the student’s t-distribution, and population proportions
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Hypothesis Testing
- Type I and II errors
- Making decisions about hypotheses
- Matched samples, paired samples, and independent samples
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Other Statistical Analyses
- The chi-square distribution
- Correlation coefficients
- Finding significance
- Linear equations and linear regression
- ANOVA testing
- The f-distribution and the f-ratio
Learning Outcomes
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Course Learning Outcomes
- Explain basic concepts of statistics and probability
- Solve basic statistical problems using R
- Understand, analyze, and criticize quantitative arguments using principles of statistics
Assessments
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Quizzes and Exams
- Course quizzes and exams consist of multiple choice, true/false, select all that apply, matching, and open-response questions. All are autograded by the LMS, so educators can spend more time with students and less time grading.
Educator Support & Dashboard
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Access All Course MaterialEducators and administrators have full access to the Partner Dashboard and all course material from Day 1.
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View Course MilestonesEasy-to-use tools show milestone dates and deadlines for the cohort, as well as the full weekly course schedule.
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Monitor Student Progress in Real Time
Coach students throughout the course—from registration to the final exam—with complete reporting on their current course grades, assessment scores, and engagement with course material.
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Download Student Grades & ProgressEducators and administrators can download student grades and full progress report details in CSV format.
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Review Student Submissions for Graded AssessmentsEducators and administrators can view student-submitted answers to assignments, quizzes, and exams.
World-Class Instructors
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World-Class Instructors
We selected 4 instructors who are gifted communicators, each with a passion for teaching the tools of statistics through a critical thinking lens:
- Ashley Carroll, M.S. College of Charleston (Hearst Magazines)
- Olanrewaju Michael Akande, Ph.D., Duke University
- Gregory Matthews, Ph.D., Loyola University Chicago
- AnnMaria De Mars, Ph.D. University of California, Riverside (7 Generation Games and The Julia Group)
Frequently Asked Questions About Intro to Statistics
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How are Outlier courses structured?
Outlier courses are divided into a series of chapters and sections. Each section contains cinematic video lectures and active learning (our interactive digital textbook) that help students learn the course content.
Students also get tons of practice with interactive question sets and mastery-based quizzes.
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Are there any course prerequisites?No.
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Are there any student eligibility requirements?
Students must be at least 13 years old. Students who enroll in an Outlier course should be ready for the academic rigor of college-level coursework and carefully consider their existing responsibilities and dedication.
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What technology does my school need to take Outlier courses?
Each student must have access to technology that meets the technical requirements noted in this Help Center article.
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What is the minimum/maximum enrollment?
All Outlier courses have unlimited enrollment, with no minimum or maximum. So they easily adapt to your scheduling and staffing needs.
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What support is available for educators?
Your educators get complete visibility into student progress in the Partner Dashboard, including:
- Progress monitoring based on the course syllabus and schedule
- Grade pacing and forecasting based on students’ performance
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Is the course completely online?Yes, Outlier courses are 100% online and asynchronous. Your students can learn during any class period—anywhere in the universe with Wi-Fi and a laptop or desktop computer.