Bonnie and Hal’s 5 Tips for Teaching Statistics
Tip #1 Professors’ behavior can maximize students’
achievement Tip #2
Meet students where they are, not where you wish they were
Tip #3 Learn about pedagogy and use it to its advantage
Tip #4 Don’t assume students know how to study
Tip #5 Don’t reinvent the wheel
Tip #1: Professors’ behavior can maximize students’ achievement
Be a role model Demonstrate behaviors you wish to see in
students Watch general tenor of class Don’t be a rude, arrogant, condescending jerk Do be yourself (at least the nice version of yourself) http://statisticalsage.wordpress.com/2010/09/19/want-to-e
ngage-students-dont-be-an-idiot/
Be prepared for class each day Practice calculations before coming to class If you say you are going to do something … do it Grade papers and return them promptly
The Syllabus is more than a Contract
Formulate an explicit syllabus Assignments and requirements for each class How grades will be determined A bit about your expectations http://statisticalsage.wordpress.com/2010/08/
16/75/
Structure syllabus to assure appropriate pacing Plan on spending more time on critical
information Build a foundation at the beginning of the
semesterStatistics in the context of researchVariability, chance difference, uses of statistics
Tip #1
Sum of Squares as Foundational Knowledge
Calculating the Sum of Squares 1 day conceptually 1 day calculations
Assignments and Exercises for Students 4.4 Extra few days of homework
Assignments and Exercises for Students 5.2
http://statisticalsage.wordpress.com/2010/10/05/engaging-learners-by-focusing-on-three-learning-styles/
Tip #1
Sampling Distribution of the Means as
Foundational Knowledge
Sampling Distribution of the Mean 1 day M&M activity 1 day conceptually
Tip #1
Standard Error as Foundational Knowledge
Standard Error Foreshadow this concept by talking about
individual differences in every class Every time you introduce a new research topic,
have students identify potential individual differences that can lead to sampling error
Tie in with sampling distribution of the mean activities/ discussion
Point out where the standard error is being calculated in various statistics
Tip #1
Shaping Student Attitudes
Discuss beliefs about attitudes and their relation to academic success Encourage students to adopt a growth
mindset Have students complete Exercises 1.1 to 1.4
of Assignments and Exercises for Students. Discuss their responses in class or on a
discussion board Have students complete a mindset survey
http://mindsetonline.com/testyourmindset/step1.php
http://mindsetonline.com/whatisit/about/index.html
Tip #1
Engage Students
Engage students from the first day You are the best tool you have http://chronicle.com/blogPost/How-to-Avoid-Being-a-Jerk-in/26427/
Engage the various modalities, visual, tactile, and kinesthetichttp://statisticalsage.wordpress.com/2010/10/05/engaging-learners-by-focusing-on-three-learning-styles/
Get students interacting and talking On the first day
Be three standard deviations from the mean with a discussion on variability
http://statisticalsage.wordpress.com/2011/01/29/first-day-of-class-starting-off-right/
Every day Pedagogical practice (discussed later)
Anticipatory Set (opening activities) Every Pupil Response Modeling of calculations Using data gathered from students
http://statisticalsage.wordpress.com/2010/09/12/getting-them-to-talk/
There are additional examples throughout this presentation
Tip #1
Tip #2: Meet students where they are, not where you wish they were
They would rather be in almost any other course Engage students from the first day
Students Don’t Believe Statistics is Important???
It is likely they have no idea of why this course should be relevant to their plans Ask students to generate questions they
would like to answer Point out that statistics can be the tool to help
answer these questions Use their questions as examples while
defining those first few terms variability, statistics, variable, and data
Tip #2
Weak Math Skills
Many students come to college woefully ill-prepared in mathematics Order of operation for calculations The difference between squaring a number
and finding the square root How to use the calculator for finding a square
root or to square a value Lining up the decimals before adding
subtracting How to convert a fraction into a decimal
Tip #2
Learn how to control your “You have got to be kidding me” micro (macro)-expressions on your face
Solution for Weak Math Skills
Tip #2
Solution for Weak Math Skills
Assign daily homework that meets the needs of your students (discussed later)
Use modeling to your advantage During steps of the calculation, include
reminders of elementary math You can have fun with it by acting like you are
“Calling a Game” “Describing a Fashion Show”
Tip #2Tip #2
Example Phrases for “Calling the Game”
“OK, so here we have two negative numbers that we need to multiply. A negative times a negative is a positive … ”
“Now it’s time to square three, so that’s three times three, and we end with nine”
“What order should I calculate this in … oh, yes, Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally. We start with ‘please’ the P in ‘please’ stands for calculating what is in the parentheses first”
Tip #2
Math Anxiety
It is not uncommon for more than ½ of a class to report high levels of math anxiety
Tip #2
As discussed earlier, having students adopt the optimal mindset will Decrease their anxiety Increase behavior associated with success
Due to a lack of prior academic success, particularly in math, students often have low self-efficacy beliefs
Tip #2Change Students’ Thinking
Students’ Mindset Impact their Behavior
Students’ with low self efficacy and/or entity mindset have behaviors that Keep them from being successful Can be interpreted that they don’t care
Solution Structure the class, homework, and non-graded
quizzes so students can experience success Quickly identify any potential areas of
weakness Help students adopt a growth mindset Use other techniques discussed (e.g., Every
Pupil Response or “Calling the Game”)
Tip #2
For some professors …
English may be a second language for some students
Students may have weak reading skills Solution
Provide students with outlines of the reading material
Provide students with a list of vocabulary and symbols
All of the above recommendations, especially providing relevant, real life examples and having students generate ideas themselves
Tip #2
Tip #3: Learn about Pedagogy and Make it Work for You
Concrete/real life/ relevant examples Teaching statistics as theory can be too
abstract Much of statistics developed in an applied
context Fisher developed many statistical techniques
in his studies of the effect of soil fertility on plant growth
Students enjoy hearing about research being conducted by people you know
Collect data from students Students enjoy “current” topics
Research found that in just and fair organizations, local employees were more likely to offer aid to their foreign coworkersBeing treated differently because you’re a foreigner doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Research published in Psychological Science found that in just and fair organizations, local employees were more likely to offer aid to their foreign coworkers.Psychological scientists Geoffrey Leonardelli and Soo Min Toh, Univeristy of Toronto conducted two field studies on various local employees who have worked with an immigrant from another country. Locals were more likely to aid their foreign coworkers by sharing information and knowledge about the local area when there was clear categorization of local or foreigner and when they felt the organization was fair and bias-free.“Group-based differences often create an ‘us versus them’ mentality,” says Toh. “However, we found that when employees felt that they were treated fairly by their employers, group-based differences were more likely to manifest as an ‘us and them’ mentality.” Toh and Leonardelli’s findings suggest that immigrants may benefit more from openly sharing their foreign origin with coworkers rather than trying to blend in as a local. Leonardelli GJ, & Toh SM (2011). Perceiving expatriate coworkers as foreigners encourages aid: social categorization and procedural justice together improve intergroup cooperation and dual identity. Psychological science, 22 (1), 110-7 PMID: 21148458
Your source for the latest psychological research.
Apply Statistics
Don't be afraid to introduce some basic principles of research Understanding statistics in the context of research
Increases understanding Increases sense of relevancy
Much of applied statistical thinking has been driven by attempting to improve decision making from data Business decisions Games of chance. Where would casinos be without
a grasp of probability? Predicting behavior like suicide or marital
happiness
Tip #3
Scaffolding
Building upon research by cognitive developmental psychologists, this pedagogical practice encourages the instructor to Recognize when students are in the Zone of
Proximal Development Students cannot complete a task on their own, but
can with assistance Constrain the complexity of the situation so students
can master the task After mastery, the constraint is removed, yet the
student is still successful at the task This approach results in a much greater speed
of learning Kiess and Green (2010) applies this technique
Tip #3
Example of Scaffolding
Before having students find the variance, have them practice finding the sum of squares (e.g., Assignment and Exercise 4.4 and 5.2)
Once they master finding the SS, finding the variance (sd, z-test, t-test, or r ) becomes much easier
Set AX
(X – M) (X – M)2
22
23
25
24
21
Scaffolding can take Students Farther
Sometimes it may seem like students should be able to put multiple steps together
Adding that last step can be the straw that breaks the poor camel
By having students master the component pieces before putting them together, greater and faster success will be realized
Tip #3
Modeling
Modeling Discussed Previously Showing students how to complete a problem
is not as helpful as truly modeling it for them, like “Calling a Game” or “Describing a Fashion Show”
Have students work along with you, completing the parts they already know how to do Every Pupil Response
Tip #3
Every Pupil Response
Every Pupil Response Every Pupil Response is a pedagogical
technique that expects all students in the class to simultaneously respond
Getting students talking or engaging increases their intellectual engagement
There are different ways of getting all students to respond
This link has a list of activities for K – 6 students, but many of them will work for college students.
http://daretodifferentiate.wikispaces.com/file/view/Pre-assessment+Techniques+Chart.pdf
Tip #3
Examples of EPR
Have everyone respond in unison What is this symbol? “little sigma” What does it represent? “population standard
deviation” Other examples:
Thumbs up, thumbs down for true and false questions Students can shade in area in a normal distribution Using your hand to demonstrate the answer (Likert
Scale) Using your hand, show me what the sum of the
deviations should be? “fist” or “O.K.” sign is shown to illustrate zero
With a thumbs up or down, who found the answer? http://statisticalsage.wordpress.com/2010/09/1
2/getting-them-to-talk/
Tip #3Tip #3
Modalities
Visual, Tactile, & Kinesthetic Activities For decades, K-12 educators have been telling
children they are either auditory, visual, tactile, or kinesthetic learners
The research is questionable regarding students being better suited for one style of learning over another
http://chronicle.com/article/Matching-Teaching-Style-to/49497/
Tip #3
Benefits of Multimodality
All people benefit from visual illustrations or hand-movements from the professor Illustrations on the chalk board Using sign language with initial letters (works
well with EPR) Mathematica http
://statisticalsage.wordpress.com/2011/01/08/before-the-semester-starts-im-playing-with-pictures/
Tip #3
More Multi-modal tips
Hands-on activities (e.g., poker chips) You will keep students attention if they
have to move Have students draw concepts
Identifying and shading in regions associated with z-score and the normal distribution
The location of a t-test or F-test on the appropriate distribution
Tip #3
Anticipatory Set
An opening class exercise presented to students prior to the start of direct instruction Enables students to anticipate what will be
covered during class Increases effective encoding of newly taught
information Increases integration of new material with
previously learned material Can make use of the benefits of self testing
Tip #3Tip #3
Details of Anticipatory Set
Used to Motivate students Help students get mentally prepared to learn material Provides the context for the lesson
Examples of Anticipatory Set Non-graded quizzes Asking students to discuss a topic Provide students with a question at the end of the
prior class, and begin by discussing their answers at the start of class
Minute Papers Give students a minute to write what they learned from
the prior reading material, homework, or class
Tip #3Tip #3
Tip #4: Don’t assume students know how to study
Encourage students to make use of: Flash cards for terms and symbols Assignments and Exercises for Students http://
www.pearsonhighered.com/educator/product/Statistical-Concepts-for-the-Behavioral-Sciences/9780205626243.page
Assignments in the textbook Provide students with answers
Entire problem Intermediate steps
Assign homework so students will be most likely to experience success
Two Powerful Study Behaviors
Space studying 6 days a week, with 1 day off 1 hour per day Make assignments specific
Problem numbers Terms Symbols Pages to read in the book
Self testing Encourage students to treat homework like it’s an
exam … closed note, closed book (though they should have the statistical formula in front of them)
Tip #4
Continued
Early in the semester, use research on study skills as examples for the concepts you are teaching Cassaday, H. J., Bloomfield, R. E., & Hayward, N. (2002).
Relaxed conditions can provide memory cues in both undergraduate and primary school children. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 72, 531-547.
Gurung, G. A. R. (2005). How do students really study (and does it matter)? Teaching of Psychology, 32, 239-241.
Roediger, H. L., & Karpicke, J. D. (2006). The power of self testing memory: Basic research and implication for educational practices. Perspectives in Psychological Science, 1, 181-210.
It may be worth it to spend 20 minutes talking about optimized study skills to your students
http://statisticalsage.wordpress.com/2011/02/05/helping-students-with-study-skills/
Tip #4
Don’t Reinvent the Wheel
There plenty of available resources Journal of Statistics Education, an ASA journal Teaching of Psychology Journal Textbook supplements Books geared toward teaching statistics
Ware, M. E., & Brewer, C. L. (Eds.). (1999). Handbook for teaching statistics and research methods (2nd ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Dunn, D. S., Smith, R. A., & Beins, B. C. (2007). Best practices in teaching statistics and research methods in the behavioral sciences. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Tip #5
If you liked this presentation
Supplemental Materials for Kiess and Green (2010) Extensive instructors’ manual PowerPoint presentations Assignments and Exercises for Students Test Bank http://
www.pearsonhighered.com/educator/product/Statistical-Concepts-for-the-Behavioral-Sciences/9780205626243.page
Statistical Sage Blog We review, synthesize, and summarize what we and
others are doing and saying about the teaching of statistics
http://statisticalsage.wordpress.com/ Don’t forget to tell us what is working for you and what
isn’t!
Tip #5