Teaching Philosophy, Practices, and Goals

Statistics as a discipline is too often viewed a "boring" and "simple number crunching". Nothing could be further from the truth - Statistics deals with transforming "data" into "information" through good experimental design and analysis. Statistical thinking permeates many disciplines and is the cornerstone of the scientific method. One of my major goals in teaching Statistics is to change students' (often negative) views about Statistics and to show them the excitement that is present in this field.

Consequently, my teaching philosophy can be summarized by the following beliefs:

• Students learn statistical theory best when they see how this material can be applied in real life situations.

• Students must be able to see past the computational drudgery to the underlying principles. Both oral and written skills in presenting results are important.

• Students need to see instructors who are passionate about their field.

• Instructors improve their teaching from regular feedback from the students and other instructors. Experimentation and Quality Improvement should be a regular tool of an instructors life.

These beliefs have several implications for the way in which I teach courses and interact with students:

• Real Life Examples: Many of the assignments in my courses involve an actual experiment or are related to current events. For example, when anecdotal complaints were raised about the prices of textbooks at the SFU Bookstore, I encourage students in a course to do an actual investigation. This subsequently lead to a publication of their experiences.

• Using computer packages: Students in introductory or service courses in statistics should use a computer package (e.g. JMP) to analyze realistic problems. This frees the students from worrying about the computational drudgery often associated with Statistics and allows them to concentrate on the concepts.

• Oral and written skills: My assignments always include written questions where students must explain their results. Upper level students must complete term papers - unusual in the mathematical sciences as much of the material in these programs is extremely technical. Graduate students are strongly encouraged to make oral presentations about their work.

• Student Contact: During lectures and interactions with students, I try and show students as much as possible how excited I am about Statistics. I maintain almost unrestricted office hours informing students that if I am in my office, I am available for questions about the course material. As well they are welcome to visit and discuss research projects in other courses and how to improve these through better experimental design and analyses.

• Student Feedback: I conduct regular "one minute assessments" where students are asked to reflect upon the most important points and the most confusing aspects of the recent lectures or to suggest improvements for the course. The results from these assessments are used to update my teaching materials through Frequently-Asked-Questions (FAQs) and in subsequent handouts for the class.

My efforts in these directions have been recognized by my peers and by my students. For example:

• I was awarded a grant from the Ministry of Skill and Training to create a series of computerized workshops for upper level statistics courses.

• I was asked to design and implement a number of new introductory courses for students in the biological sciences; for mature students returning to upgrade their Nursing skills; and for students in the Faculty of Management MBA program. (Refer to details later in c.v.)

• Students regularly come to my office for help with other courses and for advice on future course choices. I have served as a Department Advisor for honors and major students for several years.

• In 1990, I was awarded the Dr. and Mrs. H. Saunderson Award for Excellence in Teaching. This award is given each year based upon student nominations of the graduating class and recent alumni. I take particular pride in this award since many students have told me in person and on course evaluations that my courses are more demanding upon them than other courses and that they learned a great deal despite receiving only average grades.