I am participating in a MOOC, Teaching statistics through data investigations. A MOOC is a fancy name for an online, free, correspondence course.  The letters stand for Massive Open Online Course. I decided to enrol for several reasons. First I am always keen to learn new things. Second, I wanted to experience what it is like to be a student in a MOOC. And third I wanted to see what materials we could produce that might help teachers or learners of statistics in the US. We are doing well in the NZ market, but it isn’t really big enough to earn us enough money to do some of the really cool things we want to do in teaching statistics to the masses.
I am now up to Unit 4, and here is what I have learned so far:

Motivation and persistence

It is really difficult to stay motivated even in the best possible MOOC. Life gets in the way and there is always something more pressing than reading the materials, taking part in discussions and watching the videos. I looked up the rate of completion for MOOCs, and this article from IEEE gives the completion rate at 5%. Obviously it will differ between MOOCs, depending on the content, the style, the reward. I have found I am best to schedule time to apply to the MOOC each week, or it just doesn’t happen.

I know more than I thought I did

It is reassuring to find out that I really do have some expertise. (This may be a bit of a worry to those of you who regularly read my blog and think I am an expert in teaching statistics.) My efforts to read and ponder, to discuss and to experiment have meant that I do know more than teachers who are just beginning to teach statistics. Phew!

The investigative process matters

I finally get the importance of the Statistical Enquiry Cycle (PPDAC in New Zealand) or Statistical Investigation Cycle (Pose Collect, Analyse, Interpret in the US). I sort of got it before, but now it is falling into place. In the old-fashioned approach to teaching statistics, almost all the emphasis was on the calculations. There would be questions asking students to find the mean of a set of numbers, with no context. This is not statistics, but an arithmetic exercise. Unless a question is embedded in the statistical process, it is not statistics. There needs to be a reason, a question to answer, real data and a conclusion to draw. Every time we develop a teaching exercise for students, we need to think about where it sits in the process, and provide the context.

Brilliant questions

I was happy to participate in the LOCUS quiz to evaluate my own statistical understanding. I was relieved to get 100%. But I was SO impressed with the questions, which reflected the work and thinking that have produced them. I understand how difficult it is to write questions to teach and assess statistical understanding, as I have written hundreds of them myself. The FOCUS questions are great questions. I will be writing some of my own following their style. I loved the ones that asked what would be the best way to improve an experimental design. Inspired!

It’s easier to teach the number stuff

I’m sure I knew this, but to see so many teachers say it, cemented it in. Teacher after teacher commented that teaching procedure is so much easier than teaching concepts. Testing knowledge of procedure is so much easier than assessing conceptual understanding. Maths teachers are really good at procedure. That fluffy, hand-waving meaning stuff is just…difficult. And it all depends. Every answer depends! The implication of this is that we need to help teachers become more confident in helping students to learn the concepts of statistics. We need to develop materials that focus on the concepts. I’m pretty happy that most of my videos do just that – my “Understanding Confidence Intervals” is possibly the only video on confidence intervals that does not include a calculation or procedure.

You learn from other participants

I’ve never been keen on group work. I suspect this is true of most over-achievers. We don’t like to work with other people on assignments as they might freeload, or worse – drag our grade down. Over the years I’ve forced students to do group assignments, as they learn so much more in the process. And I hate to admit that I have also learned more when forced to do group assignments. It isn’t just about reducing the marking load. In this MOOC we are encouraged to engage with other participants through the discussion forums. This is an important part of on-line learning, particularly in a solely on-line platform (as opposed to blended learning). I just love reading what other people say. I get ideas, and I understand better where other people are coming from.

I have something to offer

It was pretty exciting to see my own video used as a resource in the course, and to hear from the instructor how she loves our Statistics Learning Centre videos.

What now?

I still have a few weeks to run on the MOOC and I will report back on what else I learn. And then in late May I am going to USCOTS (US Conference on Teaching Statistics). It’s going to cost me a bit to get there, living as I do in the middle of nowhere in Middle Earth. But I am thrilled to be able to meet with the movers and shakers in US teaching of statistics. I’ll keep you posted!