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Beloit College * Carthage College * Colorado College * Grinnell College * Hope College * Knox College * Lawrence University *Luther College * Macalester College * St. Olaf College * University of Chicago * Washington University |
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PEW MIDSTATES SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS CONSORTIUM |
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Upper Level Statistics
in the 21st Century: St. Olaf
College November 7-9, 2003 Registration Closed Featured Speaker: George Cobb, Vice President of the American Statistical Association's Board of Directors Coordinators: Julie Legler, Matt Richey and Paul Roback,
(St. Olaf College), Abstract: Statistical practice has changed markedly over the last decade. This workshop will provide an opportunity for faculty from liberal arts colleges to address the challenge of linking the content of upper level statistics courses to experiential learning and current statistical practice. Speakers will present current work relating changes in statistical practice and implications for course content. Participants will exchange ideas concerning the statistics curriculum as well as share successful experiential learning and undergraduate research experiences. To assist those interested in building or refining statistics programs, there will be short presentations on resources available for undergraduate statistics educators and some successful strategies for building statistics programs. Practicing statisticians from graduate schools, research centers and industry discuss their needs and expectations for students who have had undergraduate training in statistics. Finally, the role of statistics programs in mathematics departments will be discussed. General Description of Workshop Subject The overall goal of the conference is to explicitly identify changes in statistical practice and explore how they might be used to update statistics education at liberal arts colleges. This goal will be addressed through the consideration of three interrelated topics. 1. Course Content and presentation: Currently, the mathematical statistics course is the centerpiece for upper level statistics curricula. The content and emphasis of math-stat courses will be discussed along with revisions that may help to modernize its content to more closely link it to the practice of statistics. Pre- and post-mathematical statistics courses will also be considered. 2. Statistic students' experiential learning: This portion of the program emphasizes the importance of students' experiences with real data and research collaboration underscoring the importance of good communication skills, learning about different fields of application and how to work with non-statisticians in other fields. Something beyond a consulting lab experience. Ideally it would involve faculty from statistics and another discipline working cooperatively with students from both areas modeling a research collaboration. 3. Statistics programs: what does a student now need
to know? This portion would use recent works describing changes in the
practice of statistics and the ASA guidelines for program development
to structure the discussion and tailor it to the liberal arts experience
with its' unique goals, opportunities and constraints In July 1987, faculty from liberal arts colleges gathered
to address three major areas in statistics education at their institutions:
statistics in the liberal arts, the teaching of statistics, and the role
of a statistician in a liberal arts college. A summary report from this
workshop appeared in the American Statistician (May, 1989). Since that
time, the field of statistics has undergone significant changes. Enhanced
technology has dramatically changed how statisticians think and practice.
For example, statisticians employ MCMC or EM-type algorithms more routinely.
New applications and methods have expanded the traditional paradigm of
statistics. Problems in microarray data analysis, data mining, and latent
variable models are applications and methods gaining more prominence in
the practice of statistics. Previous education efforts have successfully
conveyed the value of statistical approaches to faculty from a wide variety
of disciplines so that the potential for interdisciplinary work at the
undergraduate level is more feasible than ever before. A major goal of
this workshop will be to identify these changes in statistical practice
and link them to pedagogy. Special emphasis will be placed on the mathematical
statistics course - a course that all of the liberal arts schools have
in common and a course which currently serves as the centerpiece for undergraduate
statistics programs. Tailoring and Updating ASA Guidelines for Liberal Arts
Colleges The guidelines set out by the American Statistical Association for the development and implementation of statistics programs repeatedly acknowledge the fact that the general parameters they have identified need to be tailored to the type of institution. For example, "Institutions vary greatly in the type and intensity of programs they are able to offer. The ASA believes that almost all institutions can provide a level of statistical education that is useful to both students and employers. We encourage flexibility in adapting these guidelines to institutional constraints." Faculty at Liberal Arts Colleges have very similar resources and challenges. Statistics Education There have been steady, continuous efforts made at statistics
education reform. One of the goals of this workshop will be to disseminate
the recent results of these efforts and provide a forum for discussing
how to tailor and extend these results to be most effective for liberal
arts institutions' students and their goals. Experiential Learning and Undergraduate Research Experiential learning and undergraduate research have taken
on an increasingly important role in statistics education. This workshop
will offer an opportunity for Consortium members to share successful experiences
as well as come up with new ideas regarding active learning strategies. Statistics Programs and Mathematics Departments We will wrap up the program by looking at the relationship
between statistics programs and mathematics departments. Expected outcomes of workshop Compilation of concrete ideas on Agenda Participants will receive a packet containing survey results,
ISOSTAT Math Stat text survey summary, ASA guidelines for Statistics Concentrations,
Minors and Majors Upper Level Statistics in the 21st Century: Linking
Content and Practice 4:00 - 6:30 Registration 7:00 - 8:30 Dinner with talk by George Cobb Saturday, November 8th Moderator: Julie Legler, St. Olaf College 8:45 - 9:00 Introduction: The Changing Practice of Statistics,
Julie Legler, St. Olaf College 9:00 - 10:00 Mathematical Statistics in a Liberal Arts
Statistics Program: Is it math or is it statistics and what should it
be, George Cobb, Mt. Holyoke & ASA Vice President-elect 10:00 -10:30 Break 10:30 - 11:45 Pre- and Post- Math Stat courses: What
are appropriate feeder courses for Math Stat and what should the follow-up
to math stat look like?, Paul Roback, St. Olaf College and Weiwei
Miao, Macalester College Participants will have a "Show and Tell" where
an experiential learning or undergraduate research experience is described
- successes and failures are welcome! Participants are encouraged to bring
along a student or alum, if possible, to describe the experience from
their perspective. Sonja Clark, St. Olaf '03, Practicum Rachel Pedersen, St. Olaf '03, Internship at Mayo Clinic George McCabe, Purdue University 3:30 - 5:00 Post-graduate Expectation Maximization Dean Isaacsen, Statistics Graduate Program, Iowa State Lynn Eberly, Biostatistics Program, University of Minnesota Mayo Clinic representative Craig Solid, Biostatistician, Nephrology Analytic Services Sunday, November 9th Implementing Moderator: Thomas Moore, Grinnell 9:00 - 10:00 Resources: texts, on line materials, software,
other departments, ASA and CUM guidelines, the pipeline and educators More "Show and Tell" - participants are encouraged
to share resources that they have found particularly effective and useful. 10:00 - 10:30 Break 10:30 - 11:00 Programmatic Issues This session addresses Hiring and Retaining Statisticians
and Statisticians in Mathematics Departments 11:00 - 11:30 Wrap up 11:30 - 12:30 Box Lunch Evaluation and closing
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Contact Pew at: Hope College Mathematics Department, 27 Graves Place, VanderWerf Hall, Holland, MI 49423, pewscimath@hope.edu, Phone: 616-395-7494, Fax: 616-395-7123 |
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Last updated September 7, 2006 |
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