Simon Sheather

1
Reflections on teaching

• Simon Sheather

2
Experience improving the teaching skills of others

• Core MBA statistics course run by 1 faculty
  member and 20 instructors taught - 540 students
  in 2003- 435 students in 2004

3
Approaches to teaching

• There is no single unique way of being a
  successful teacher
• An important part of any personal improvement
  process is defining your own teaching style
• It is always possible to learn something about
  teaching from someone else that can be adapted to
  suit you
• Sitting in on other peoples classes is a very
  effective way to get ideas on how to improve your
  teaching

4
Ingredients of a successful approach to teaching

• Make clear from the start what you expect from
  the students as well as what they can expect from
  you
• Structure, structure, structure in course notes
  as well as the actual classes (3 levels of
  learning)
• Eye contact, the 125 rule and other tips for
  running classes
• Demonstrate interest in how the students perform
  in your course one of my personal performance
  indicators is the lowest score
• Encouragement of, and positive response to,
  student feedback and suggestions
• One can never have too many relevant and
  realistic examples
• Course notes need to be detailed and complete
• Encourage and then carefully answer questions in
  class
• Provide practice mid-term and final exams with
  solutions
• Careful grading of assignments and exams

5
Setting clear expectations

• Here is what I expect from you and what you can
  expect from me
• Office hours and emails (NYU story)
• Preparation for class

6
Setting clear expectations Ask students to set
their goals in class 1

• What would you like to able to do differently
  after completing this course?
• What are your goals for this course?
• What specific steps are you going to take to
  ensure you achieve these goals?

7
Structure, structure, structure 3 point summary
of each class in service courses

• Leverage points are those points that have a
  large effect on the least squares fitted
  regression model.
• Leverage points are those points that have an
  x-value which are extreme, i.e., away from the
  bulk of the other x-values.
• To decide whether a point is a leverage point we
  need only consider its x-value and not its
  y-value.

8
Structure, structure, structure 3 levels of
learning

• I understand someone elses explanation of a
  concept
• I can work in a small group and solve a problem.
• I can solve a problem on my own.
• Most classes focus solely on level 1. Levels 2
  3 learning improves student outcomes and
  satisfaction. Level 3 learning is what we test.

9
Structure, structure, structure

• In the last class we talked about
• In todays class we talk about
• In the next class we will talk about

10
Eye contact, the 125 rule and other tips for
running classes

• Eye contact with a number of students is an
  effective method of reading the audience
• Why continue teaching when few people are
  following what is being said?
• Learning the names of the students in your class
  will improve the teaching experience for you and
  your students
• Be 125 of your normal self in front of the class

11
Encouragement of, and positive response to,
student feedback and suggestions Mid-term
feedback from students

• What can be done to improve the teaching and
  learning in this course?
• 1. More worked examples in class
• 2. Include some more examples as optional.
• 3. Slow down a tad.
• 4. Go slower.
• 5. For someone who has never worked statistics
  with Excel the pace of the lectures is too fast.
• 6. Simon can rush some explanations.
• 7. It is just a shame we have to learn so much in
  such a short period.

12
Encouragement of, and positive response to,
student feedback and suggestions Mid-term
feedback from students

• What do you like about this course so far?
• Simon makes this course interesting and not such
  a dry topic
• Stimulating lectures, good application of humor,
  comprehensive examples, ability to bring a boring
  subject to life
• The lectures are very clear and helpful
• Simon does a great job at showing how stats are
  relevant to everyday problems
• Practical real life examples
• Real life application of stats
• Applicability of stats to real life
• Application of theory in real cases
• Clear examples with answers provided.
• Restatement and review of key points
• The pleasure that I now know Ill get when the
  Bombers get beaten
• Enthusiasm of the lecturer, relevant examples,
  relationship to business examples
• Real life examples, fun classes, answers simple
  questions very well and with empathy, clear
  slides and handouts

13
Encouragement of, and positive response to,
student feedback and suggestions Mid-term
feedback from students
Identify the key drivers of overall ratings and
work on them vs. change the software or the
textbook syndrome
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One can never have too many relevant and
realistic examples
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One can never have too many relevant and
realistic examples
http//harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu/
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Merck decision tree
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One can never have too many relevant and
realistic examples
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One can never have too many relevant and
realistic examples
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Course notes need to be detailed and complete

• In service courses it is essential to provide
  course notes containing worked examples with all
  details explained
• Ask yourself what you would need in order to
  perform analyses or calculations in another
  subject (e.g., astronomy, economics, finance,
  accounting etc.,) when deciding how much detail
  to include
• Flow charts can be a very effective way of
  explaining all the necessary steps

27
Course notes need to be detailed and complete
28
Encourage and then carefully answer questions in
class

• In service courses a mathematical derivation is
  rarely the most appropriate answer to a student
  question
• A long story or anecdote is rarely the most
  appropriate answer to a student question
• Some questions are best answered more fully after
  class or at office hours
• Student questions, or the lack there of, provide
  good pointers to the level of understanding among
  students in the class

29
Provide practice mid-term and final exams with
solutions
30
Careful grading of assignments and exams
31
Ingredients of a successful approach to teaching

• Make clear from the start what you expect from
  the students as well as what they can expect from
  you
• Structure, structure, structure in course notes
  as well as the actual classes (3 levels of
  learning)
• Eye contact, the 125 rule and other tips for
  running classes
• Demonstrate interest in how the students perform
  in your course one of my personal performance
  indicators is the lowest score
• Encouragement of, and positive response to,
  student feedback and suggestions
• One can never have too many relevant and
  realistic examples
• Course notes need to be detailed and complete
• Encourage and then carefully answer questions in
  class
• Provide practice mid-term and final exams with
  solutions
• Careful grading of assignments and exams