Statistics is not a sexy subject. Despite attempts to hide it’s identity behind terms such as data science, machine learning and now of course artificial ‘intelligence’ it remains maligned. A brief search on google scholar – which is still mercifully free of AI at this time- for ‘statistics phobia students’ yields hundreds of thousands of papers meticulously recording student loathing of the subject. Unfortunately, they don’t contain very many solutions.
When I began teaching, in a geography department, one of the first tasks I was handed was a first-year statistics module. You may be surprised how many undergraduate degrees require fundamental statistics training; from psychology and sociology to law and medicine. The teaching is usually done by a junior member of the department. Senior academics know what a thankless task it is. Poor student engagement, low test scores and above all else, bad student feedback, are what you can expect.
Building something better
I am not usually one to accept anything.
Yes, it has made my life quite difficult.
So I researched and experimented and, over a decade, developed a statistics module that delivered for over 800 students during my career. I threw out the condescending rhetoric (memes do not help), cut and paste solutions, and unrealistic data-sets. Statistics is above all a practical subject, the tests and procedures were all invented for specific reasons. Once you look into the history and development of stats you start to see the logic. Throw in some practical exercises, build a quincunx (I was bored in lock-down) and you get a module that not only isn’t complained about (a low bar) but gets nominated for awards.
Why a Book?
Honestly, when I walked away from academia I thought I’d never teach again. I was burnt out and jaded from the unrelenting performance that is higher education (but that’s another blog post – hell – it’s a memoir). However, eight months later, in need of some cash, I hesitantly re-entered the education sector as a personal tutor. Working one-on-one with students made me realise how much I missed real teaching, which can make a real difference in somebodies life.
During my previous career I was often asked by students for a book, just one book, that could explain clearly how to do statistics. This year I thought I’d started writing it.
If you are interested in private maths or statistics tutoring I am taking on both children and adult students. I can tutor GCSE and A-level as well as graduate and postgraduate exams such as the AKT. Please contact me and I will provide details of my agency. I hold a enhanced DBS certificate and a level two qualification in safeguarding.
Leave a Reply