Supporting Students in Learning Research Methods and Statistics

1
Supporting Students in Learning Research Methods
and Statistics

• Becky Street
• Roehampton University
• B.Street_at_roehampton.ac.uk

2
Teaching Statistics to Students is Inherently
Problematic

• Research methods statistics associated with
  high levels of anxiety, negative perceptions,
  may be regarded as major threat to achieving a
  degree (Onwuegbuzie and Wilson, 2003).
• Pitrowski, Bagui and Hemasinha (2002) note
  statistics has failed to inspire generations of
  psychology graduates (p 98).
• Between two-thirds and four-fifths of graduate
  students experience uncomfortable levels of
  statistical anxiety, highlighting the extent of
  problems
• (Onwuegbuzi Wilson, 2003).

3
Challenges Relate to Retention Strategies(And So
Do We)

• Research methods courses today focused on
  real-world research (design, interpretation and
  dissemination as well as maths - Onwuegbuzi and
  Wilson, 2003). highly anxious students
  presenting with range of issues?
• Poor quality / demotivating learning experiences
  associated with dropout (e.g. Pitkethly
  Prosser, 2001). Our role linked to retention?

4
Active Learning Group Work

• Vast literature noting benefits of co-operative
  learning / small group work in statistics courses
  (e.g. Garfield, 1993)
• Peer interaction supports development of critical
  thinking skills, enhancing problem-solving
  performance promoting conceptual change
  (Anderson Soden, 2001)
• Massification of HE more diverse student
  population educational attainment, background
  lifestyle (Candy, 2000) higher need for
  groupwork?

5
The Demonstrator / Graduate Assistant Role

• Seminars, small-group workshops, etc. need to be
  sufficiently resourced to ensure a positive
  learning experience
• Larger-than-average teaching teams are required
  for this, which can make such courses relatively
  costly to run. (Demonstrators cheaper)
• So what is our actual role?

6
Workshop Activities (See Handout)