Assessment of a Writing Course in Statistics

1. Assessment of a Writing Course in Statistics Larry Weldon Statistics & Actuarial Science Simon Fraser University Canada 2007/08/20

2. Recent Focus on Communication • Gal,I (2002) • “Adults' statistical literacy: Meanings, components, and responsibilities” ISR 70 • Sydney IASE/ISI Theme (2005) • " Statistics Education and the Communication of Statistics” • Assessment of Communication …?

3. Assessment - the context • A writing course in Statistics • Third year students with ≥2 stat courses • Verbalization of concepts required • Oral verbalization as well as written • Risk-free critique of written work • Some ESL students • Authentic Assessment?

4. Assignments and Class Activities • Discussion of Concepts (and report) • Precis of Published Paper • Report of Original “Research” • Prepared Oral Presentation of Topic • Group Experiment - execution & report For example: why unbiasedness? For example: “Summary of a Survey of Consultant Statisticians” TAS 60 Based on Statistics Canada Data - own topic Seven minute oral presentation based on IASE paper from IASE/ISI Sydney 2005 “Diurnal Pattern of Reaction Time” All Include oral participation in class, and written submissions in and out of class Verbalization of Statistical Concepts

5. How to Assess? • Tests, Exams? • Not realistic, not “authentic” • Tests memory rather than concept (no “new” content) • Misses oral component • Writing original script • Assessment? • Oral presentations or discussion • Assessment?

6. What is to be assessed? • Communication Clarity • Conceptual Understanding Examples of clarity with misunderstanding! “An unbiased parameter estimator is better than a biased one.” 2. “Since it is a large sample, it will have an approximate normal distribution.” 3. “The 95% CI contains about 95% of the measurements.” (MSE a better criterion) (only means approx normal) (contains mean not measurements)

7. Communication Clarity AND • Communication ContentBOTH MUST BE ASSESSED Assessment of a statistics communication course should include Assessment of a student’s conceptual understanding.

8. Assessment Overview • 20% - Timely submission of draft reports for reviewing • 20% - Participation in class discussions • 20% Response to review of draft • 20% Statistical and scientific logic • 20% Layout and language clarity ) Final Reports

9. Difficulties Overcome? • Writing at Home - Is it original? • Subjective Evaluation of Discussion - Is it fair? • Draft Writing Not Marked - Do students work hard on it? • Students were assigned different material to write about - Is it fair? • Many components unlike other STAT courses - did students value it? Some in class. Draft not marked. Response marked. No complaints. Corr’n with student assessment. Draft to final in one day - draft needs to be good Multiplicity of tasks. Accounting in assessment. Student evaluations of usefulness were high

10. Conclusion • Statistics Communication Course: • Taught as a seminar course • Useful for a clarifying concepts • Valuable for career preparation • Not easy for students, but appreciated • Assessed with simple techniques Thank you