teaching large classes department of statistics rachel fewster

Teaching Large Classes

Department of Statistics

Rachel Fewster

What is a teacher?• A communicator

What sort of communicator?

Broadcaster

Flight attendantArtist

Loudspeaker

Broadcaster

Flight attendantArtist

LoudspeakerMessenger

Messenger

Inanimate objectWhat sort of communicator?

Artist

Messenger

Messenger

Inanimate objectWhat sort of communicator?

Artist

• Discerns the essence of the subject• Distils the essence of the

subject• Finds a balance between

concept and detail• Recreates it in a form fit for

everyone

This communicator:

This is water!

That’s creativity!

Impression – Sunrise, by Claude Monet (1872)

Messengerwith

personality

Messenger

Inanimate object

Don’t aspire to be…

Or even…

Teaching is a creative art

A good teacher creates something all of their own

A Subject for Everyone?Scenes of 19th century industrialism are really not my thing…

- but I love this picture!

How can I do for Mathematical Statistics what Monet has done for 19th century industrialism…?

• Understanding chance

• Communicating concepts

• Encouraging critical thinking

• Doing something creative with my subject

Why teach Statistics?

What the Stats 10x team did for me

In my first week of teaching, I learnt that:• Most students are not in the least like me

After 3 more weeks of teaching, I discovered:• Most students have no desire to be like me

After 12 weeks of teaching, I comprehended:• The Stats 10x team were reaching far more students than I would reach with my approach

Me? or Them?

Theorem Proof

TheoremProof

CorollaryProof

Example

Motivation Example

Bit of theoryMore example

More theoryExampleExampleExample

How I learnt…

How I teach

Engage curiosity

Give history andpersonalities

Use examples and diagrams

Build intuition

Everything has got a moral, if only you can find it…

• Listen to your colleagues

• Listen to your students

• Learning how to teach is a job we never finish

• It’s OK to teach very differently from the way you preferred to learn

The Student

Course Materials& Lecture Notes

You

Ingredients for learning

The Student

Course Materials& Lecture Notes

You

Ingredients for learning

Insight!Understanding!

Enthusiasm!

Ingredients for learning

12 weeks later…

The Student

Ingredients for learning

• Background knowledge

• Aspirations

• Career plans

Get a Degree

Performance or Perfection?

• Focuses on OUTCOMES• Mistakes are disasters• Prefers to use familiar tools to solve problems

Performance Perfection

• Focuses on the learning process• Mistakes are opportunities• Embraces new tools and deep understanding

• Focuses on OUTCOMES• Mistakes are disasters• Prefers to use familiar tools to solve problems

Performance Perfection

• Focuses on the learning process• Mistakes are opportunities• Embraces new tools and deep understanding

Most academics are perfection-oriented in our own fields

Most students are performance-oriented in our field

We can empathise!

We are performance-

oriented ourselves in other fields

• Focuses on OUTCOMES• Mistakes are disasters• Prefers to use familiar tools to solve problems

Performance Perfection

• Focuses on the learning process• Mistakes are opportunities• Embraces new tools and deep understanding

1. Empathise with the student’s approach2. Aim to make them WANT to switch

modes

The Student

Course Materials& Lecture Notes

You

Ingredients for learning

Course Materials& Lecture Notes

ABLANKPAGE

Course notes like a map

Aim to build a landscape

Course Materials& Lecture Notes

Lake

Saddle

Ridges

Essential features clear for everyone

Course notes like a map

Aim to build a landscape

Course Materials& Lecture Notes

Lake

Saddle

Ridges

Finer points there for the taking

Course notes like a map

Aim to build a landscape

Don’t overdo content!

Ridges

LakeSaddle

This is what you know and

love

This is most of what you

will get across

But if you try to put across

all this…

…you’ll succeed in

communicating this!

Ridges

LakeSaddle

This is better!

Statisticians never gamble, but…

• I’ll bet you will be SURPRISED at how far YOU have come since you first saw this material

• Before the course, decide upon your lake!

Ridges

LakeSaddle

What are the key concepts you

MUST get across?

Design your course and assessment

around these!

Begin with low-context example, to focus on the ideas

Progress to more intriguing examples

Aim to stimulate CURIOSITY

Pictures and colour do this

best!

The Student

Course Materials& Lecture Notes

You

Ingredients for learning

The Student

Course Materials& Lecture Notes

You

Ingredients for learningDon’t assume I’m the same as you!

Less

content

=

more

gain

What’s left for… You?

Your job is to breathe life into the landscape!

The Conceptual Landscape

• Instinct for the material• Concepts spring to life• A beautiful / satisfying place to explore• Personality and character

CB

A

??

• Learning is a social activity

• We are social animals

What’s left for… You? I don’t think

you are my role model…

Please yoursel

f!

The importance of psychologyMy head is full of other stuff too!

• The atmosphere of the classroom will be the take-home impression of the subject for many students

• Aim for a critical mass of engaged students

There must be something positive!

Students will associate a positive vibe with the subject matter - even if by accident!

Creativity

Spontaneity

Elegance or liveliness

The Really Boring Statistics LectureGive us a

cheer for…Raise the

roof!Make those people next door think

they are missing something!One, two,

three…

What engages students in class?

• Humour - most teachers avoid sarcasm

• Your enthusiasm- alternatively energy or liveliness- material has to appear likeable!

• Your engagement with the students- be friendly and approachable- learn names where possible

What engages students in assignments?

• Intrigue, curiosity, fun- can you spot a liar?- will I be able to catch you cheating? - does heavy metal music help your plants grow?

• Usefulness to the student- how many boy/girlfriends should you have before you settle for one you like?

• Their progress- now they can do something they couldn’t do before

It’s all about them!

• Students are most interested in themselves!

• Usefulness to immediate lives is more compelling than usefulness to future (unknown) careers

• Popular literature in your subject area is a good source of engaging material

Conclusions:

• Teaching is creative work in your subject area

- just like Research

• Don’t assume that students are like you, or that they should learn the way that you did

Conclusions:

• Less content will often deliver more total gain

• Your job is to give the material some personality- must be a likeable personality!

Ridges

LakeSaddle

My Top Tips:

• Be nice

• Smile

• Invest creativity into your teaching

• Don’t take yourself too seriously