‘I am no longer afraid of statistics.'                     - anonymous student, CEQ, Fall 2002

‘I will use what I have learned in this course
for the rest of my career as a biologist.'               - anonymous student, CEQ, Fall 2002

Learning statistics is like music and sports--
practice a little bit every day and
congratulate yourself at each success.                 -D. Schneider, first day of class

My goal as a teacher is to bring out the best in science students by fostering in them confidence in their ability to analyze their own data. My teaching philosophy has several themes growing from this goal. The first is being as effective as I can in building student confidence and skill in data analysis. I take great pride in seeing students apply, on their own, a conceptual approach to problem solving and statistical analysis in biology. I take even more pride in seeing students reach the point where they can help other students with data analysis and statistical methods. In fact I encourage students to help each other, or practice explaining statistical concepts and analysis to each other, because this amplifies their own understanding. To increase student skill and confidence in statistics and data analysis I structure curricula so that students "learn by doing" via frequent, short, and active engagement with course material. I use a weekly cycle of short assignments, labs, and quizzes. The second theme is increasing my teaching effectiveness through action based on student evaluation and self reflection. As a result my teaching style and philosophy have evolved. To develop my capacity as a teacher, I make it a habit to remain open to new methods, to reflect on the teaching interaction, and to adopt quickly what works best. The third theme is leading initiatives to increase participation and teaching effectiveness of graduate students. Through service on pan-University and pan-Faculty committees, I have taken a lead in initiatives to foster a better undergraduate experience at Memorial through effective teaching by graduate students.

Style and Effectiveness. My teaching style is very much "we can do it." The material that I teach is challenging but during the term each student experiences their ‘aha' moment, when everything clicks into place and the student becomes a confident and skilled user of statistics. My compass, along the way, is to never forget that conceptual modes of thinking only make sense once learned, they are never easy at the outset. Recalling the problems I had understanding statistics, I use lots of examples in lectures. I choose examples that connect statistical analysis to significant questions, such as cancer risk in relation to cigarette smoking. To encourage comfortable interaction with students I learn everyone's names; I make myself available to individual students right after class, during slow periods in lab, and during times scheduled by students. When students send email queries about assignments, I remove the name of the student and then send the query and my response to the entire class. I use weekly quizzes because this reduces test anxiety, keeps the students up with the material, and allows me to identify students who are having trouble. During slow period in labs I sit down next to these students and volunteer to go over the quiz, an action that allows me to explain material in ways appropriate to individual students. Students differ in background and experience with statistics so I use a sequenced teaching interaction to build skill and confidence. In courses, students first see a completely worked example with step by step explanation, then are asked to repeat the analysis with a similar set of data, then are given a variant that requires the use of concepts in addition to the skill they now have in execution. Learning statistics in this way, through frequent and successful engagement, is like learning music and sports. In less structured situations, such as advising undergraduate honours students, graduate students, or colleagues, I use this same sequence. I begin by finding out each person's level of knowledge; I provide a structured example appropriate to that level; I listen as they work through another example, then I encourage them to take the concept at hand and apply it to another case. The goal of this sequence is always that the student gain confidence and skill in concept based data analysis and problem solving in science.

Over the years I have learned that one cannot take oneself too seriously, when teaching statistics. Humour is needed, the dryer the better. And so over the years, I have begun to use the endless opportunities for dry humour that the teaching of statistics provides.

Scholarship. For more than a decade I have conducted systematic research to develop a new way of teaching statistics and to improve my teaching effectiveness. My teaching style and curriculum have evolved because I have sought student evaluation and then made changes based on these results. I have been using professionally prepared course evaluation forms to improve my teaching since 1992. These helped me with the basics of teaching (motivation, delivery, organization). To move beyond the basics I take action based on more detailed information. One format that I find particularly useful is anonymous response to two questions: (1) What is the best thing about this course? (2) How could this course be improved? I do this early enough in the term to make the activity worthwhile for students. I like this format because it moves beyond ratings, it gives students a chance to tell me what is effective and what is not. I tabulate responses, identify recurring problems, then take action on these. At the end of each term I take my graduate teaching assistants out to lunch, where we discuss successes, problems encountered, and solutions. Recently, I extended this to an in-class discussion of course delivery and organization. Students are a good source of innovative ideas, and I found that they appreciated being brought in to decisions about delivery and organization.

Leadership. My activities as a University teacher have been varied: course instructor, developer of a new way of teaching statistics, mentor for graduate students, and champion of initiatives to integrate graduate students into the educational enterprise. As Associate Dean of Science, I have taken a lead in several initiatives to foster a better undergraduate experience by increasing the teaching effectiveness of graduate students in the Faculty of Science. From talking to graduate teaching assistants in the sciences at Memorial I know that some graduate students would like to take a more active role in teaching, provided they are part of a team. I also know that our graduate students have low pay rates relative to the rest of Canada. I serve on several pan-University committees where I advocate improving the University experience for first year students by expanding the teaching opportunities for graduate students, with better pay linked to teaching effectiveness. From talking to undergraduates, I know that large courses become a problem if contact with the teaching staff is diffuse. In our Faculty we have a good model, developed with the instructional development office, where groups of 20 first year students work with and get to know ‘their' graduate student, under the overall guidance of lab instructors and faculty. I have championed this team approach so that it can take hold and spread across our Faculty and the University. My effectiveness in educational administration springs from the same source as in teaching–never to forget that the goal is that students gain confidence and intellectual skill through a good University experience.

From time to time setback, circumstance, or even tragedy force us to take stock. When that happens, I visualize a series of faces-- students who hold science jobs they enjoy, students who have become the data analysis expert at their institution, and students who are now teaching science at universities scattered around the world.