glenn johnson instructional designer department of statistics penn state university teaching...

Glenn JohnsonInstructional DesignerDepartment of StatisticsPenn State University

Teaching Statistics Online: Understanding the Perspective

of the Distant Learner

April, 2015

History and Scope1999 - approached by the World Campus to develop the online

version of STAT 500, Applied Statistics, a pre-requisite of the other graduate-level Applied Statistics courses.

 Spring of 2001 - began teaching STAT 500 online. Due to the

positive experience we continued to develop more online courses.

 2006 - received approval for the Graduate Certificate in Applied

Statistics, admitting 16 online students in 2006-07. The certificate program has grown and admitted 326 students in 2012-13 for a total of 1,126 students since its inception.

 Summer of 2009 - full MAS program for online delivery. The first

online MAS cohort began in the Spring 2010 semester with 9 students; since then 115 students applied to the program in 2012 and 143 students in 2013.

Enrollment Trend

time

en

rollm

ent

Grad

UG

Online

Online Course OfferingsService Courses

STAT 100 – Statistical Concepts and Reasoning

STAT 200 – Elementary Statistics

MAS Core CoursesSTAT 414 - Introduction to Probability

Theory STAT 415 - Introduction to Mathematical

StatisticsSTAT 501 - Regression MethodsSTAT 502 - Analysis of Variance and DOESTAT 580/581 - Statistical Consulting

Practicum

MAS Elective CoursesSTAT 464 - Applied Nonparametric StatisticsSTAT 480 - Introduction to SAS (1 credit)STAT 481 - Intermediate SAS (1 credit)STAT 482 - Advanced Topics in SAS (1 credit)STAT 497C - Topics in R Statistical Language

STAT 500 - Applied StatisticsSTAT 503 - Design of ExperimentsSTAT 504 - Analysis of Discrete DataSTAT 505 - Applied Multivariate Statistical AnalysisSTAT 506 - Sampling Theory and MethodsSTAT 507 - Epidemiological Research MethodsSTAT 509 - Design and Analysis of Clinical TrialsSTAT 510 - Applied Time Series AnalysisSTAT 897D - Applied Data Mining I

InfrastructurePenn State’s World Campus• Registration • Marketing / Administration• Technical Support / Proctor Support

Information Technology Services (ITS)• Storage (PASS, Box)• Course Management System (ANGEL / Canvas?)

Teaching and Learning with Technology (TLT)• Communication Tools (Adobe Connect)• Training / ID Support

Department• Development Support• Teaching Assignments

Communication Online

Walther’s Social Information Processing Theory

Images from wisegeek.com, wikipedia, wikimedia commons

Strategies for Course BuildingFoundational Components

Syllabus – the overall plan for the course.

Content - What are the topics that you plan to cover?  What might this content look like?

Assessments - What is it that you want you students to know and/or be able to do?  How will you know if they get there?

Interaction - Mechanisms that you can use along the way so that you and your students know you are on the right track.

The Online Syllabus

• Required by the University, College or Department

• Recommended

• Online Specific

Setting and Managing Expectations!

Capturing ContentA balancing investments in

TechnologyID / Technology Support

Course Author Time

Lecture Capture w/ Powerpoint

Mix of narrative, images, and

formulas augmented by

short video segments.

Accessibility

Assessment Plan

Process

1) Review the Learning Objectives

2) Review the Program Goals

3) Write the Final Exam First!

Issues

• # and Types of Assignments, Weights & Distribution?

• Proctored Exams?

Students are more likely to cheat when:

- a great deal is riding on the outcome,

- students care about performing to earn some

external reward, and

- when they don’t believe they have a good shot

at succeeding through legitimate effort.

Miller, Minds Online

Interaction Plan

Discussion

Presentation of Material

Feedback

Examples, Examples, Examples!

Rollover / Pop-ups?

Animate?

Announcements

Office Hours

Attention – Relevance – Confidence - SuccessJohn KellerMotivational Design

Uses of Technology MathJax / LaTeX

Examples: Drupal, Piazza

Annotation AppsShowMeExplainEverythingDoceri (+ remote control)

ScreencastingJing

Inline GradingCanvas, Blackboard

Communication / Presentation Tools

Adobe ConnectZoom

“Good teaching is good teaching, regardless of the technology.”

Michelle Miller, Minds Online

Glenn Johnson – gfj100@psu.eduDepartment of StatisticsPenn State University

Questions?