Scaffolding … what is it and how does it work
Statistical Sage Blog | Dedicated to Teaching Statistics
by Bonnie
3y ago
Hello All, I am currently teaching a class in child development to undergraduates. As you may be able to tell from the posts, I approach teaching applied statistics (including research method and psychometrics) from a cognitive developmental approach. So, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I also get to teach developmental classes from time to time. Yet, what has surprised me is that I cannot find any good references on how a professor or teacher implements one of the most critical pedagogical practices I know of … scaffolding. So, I thought I would write information about scaffolding as a t ..read more
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The first few minutes matter: Intellectually engaging students
Statistical Sage Blog | Dedicated to Teaching Statistics
by Bonnie
3y ago
As educators in statistics, what do we hope for the most? I would say we are most interested in our students learning and understanding how to use and interpret statistics. Yet, what percentage of your students are actually interested in learning about statistics on the first day of class? I have taught close to 100 doctoral students and close to 2000 undergraduate students. I have had no more than 3 doctoral students interested in learning statistics and certainly not more than 20 undergraduates. Thus, between 1 and 3 percent of the students who enter my classes desire to learn about statisti ..read more
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A time for reflection
Statistical Sage Blog | Dedicated to Teaching Statistics
by Bonnie
3y ago
Being a professor provides us with an opportunity to have a hard end, every semester. With a built in break, to rejuvenate, lick our wounds, work on our scholarship, and to reflect on the prior academic year. I remain concerned over the quality of course evaluations. Many universities do exactly what my institution did. An assistant provost created a committee of faculty members and administrators, none of whom had a background in the creation of psychometric tools. She provided them with some constraints … 10 items or fewer, it had to include an item on starting and stopping class on time, an ..read more
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Let’s dance
Statistical Sage Blog | Dedicated to Teaching Statistics
by Bonnie
3y ago
Let’s Dance … Some of my fondest memories are surrounding dancing. I learned how to Polka with my Grandfather. I have many memories of dancing with my Dad, including learning how to Waltz.  My son, as an infant, would only calm down with “dancing.” Many days we would dance for two or more hours. And now, I look forward, every year to the one polka dance my daughter promises me at a community event. Thus, with all of these fond memories of dancing, it’s probably not surprising that dancing has become a metaphor for me as to what great teachers do. In dancing, there is a give and take betwe ..read more
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Decreasing Cheating
Statistical Sage Blog | Dedicated to Teaching Statistics
by Bonnie
3y ago
Several years ago, I arranged for an Eastern Psychological Symposium on the application of psychological research in maximizing students’ intellectual engagement in (and out of) class. I was reminded of this symposium while reading the Chronicle of Higher Education. A faculty member was highlighting the challenges he faced prior academic year when he started to use a anti-plagiarism software, Turnit-In http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/nyu-prof-vows-never-to-probe-cheating-again%e2%80%94and-faces-a-backlash/32351. His experiences were certainly interesting, and as I thought of cheati ..read more
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Intellectually taking hold of your students: The First Five Minutes
Statistical Sage Blog | Dedicated to Teaching Statistics
by Bonnie
3y ago
“I’ve lost them.” I hate the realization that I have lost my class. I don’t care if I’m teaching 15 or 150 students, I want to grab a hold of their minds and fill them with critical information. This is particularly true in applied statistics. We all know, many of our students don’t want to take applied stats. Let’s face it, some of our colleagues don’t even see it as being useful. And, there are even some people teaching applied statistics who don’t  want to! [I have tips for those who don’t want to teach stats here: https://statisticalsage.wordpress.com/2012/01/09/so-you-dont-want ..read more
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Beginning the Semester …
Statistical Sage Blog | Dedicated to Teaching Statistics
by Bonnie
3y ago
Hello All, Yes, it’s been a while since I posted. But the incredible thing about being a professor is we get a fresh start every semester. And the fall semester, in many ways, is the most exciting. For me, one of the exciting parts of right before the fall semester starts is that I get to meet and provide professional development to our incoming faculty. For the last few years, there just weren’t that many new faculty, especially of the tenured track variety. But today, I was able to meet several. I hope this is a trend that continues. This year’s professional development workshop was als ..read more
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New Year’s Resolution: Do they make a difference?
Statistical Sage Blog | Dedicated to Teaching Statistics
by Bonnie
3y ago
It is time to wish everyone a Happy New Year! As we go through the transition of one year to the next, many people think about New Year’s Resolutions. Do they make a difference? If so, what is the best way to assure a New Year’s Resolution be fruitful? Approximately 40 – 45% of people establish goals for themselves at the start of the New Year. The most common goals deal with health related issues like healthy eating, physical activity, or limiting unhealthy behaviors like smoking. The next common class of New Year’s resolutions are money related issues … like increasing savings or cutting dow ..read more
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Making students fail???
Statistical Sage Blog | Dedicated to Teaching Statistics
by Bonnie
3y ago
By now, anyone reading this blog has probably figured out the only thing I like more than teaching applied statistics is understanding what makes students learn the material better. My goal is not for them to learn the material long enough for the exam, but so they can actually do what the class is intended to do … apply statistics to find the answers to important questions. My focus on the cognitive science underlying student success is no surprise to people on my campus. As such, I wasn’t the least bit surprised with a science faculty member contacted me to find out ..read more
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Qualities of a Master Teacher
Statistical Sage Blog | Dedicated to Teaching Statistics
by Bonnie
3y ago
Psychologists interested in understanding what constitutes a “Master Teacher” have conducted several studies to identify various traits. One resource can be found at the Society for the Teaching of Psychology’s (STP) resource center (OTRP) and is written by Jeffrey Stowell, from Eastern Illinois University, and Eric Landrum, STP President from Boise State University. This article,  http://teachpsych.org/resources/Documents/otrp/resources/stowell13.pdf , contains 73 different clips of professors teaching who are demonstrating Master Teacher Qualities. In this article, Stowell and ..read more
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