Abstract
Statistical analysis is an essential skill for postgraduate studies, especially for the research postgraduates. Sophisticated data analysis is usually involved in their research process. Feedback collected from the Elementary SPSS courses under the Improving Postgraduate Learning (IPL) Programme in recent years reflected that research postgraduate students (RPgs) would like to learn various advanced statistical methods and programming languages for their research needs. To provide flexible arrangements for accommodating their needs, engaging RPgs in Statistics to conduct workshops on statistical analyses could be a solution. The major challenge of this arrangement is that RPgs in Statistics may not have the sufficient experience in teaching statistical methods to students from other backgrounds, especially students from the non-science backgrounds who may find advanced mathematics a challenge.
The project aims to prepare and engage RPgs in Statistics to conduct workshops on various statistical analysis methods for other postgraduate students (or undergraduate students who are required to complete a capstone course involving research) who are interested in or need some knowledge about statistics in order to complete their research studies. The project is divided into 2 phases. In Phase I, which refers to the current proposal, is the development of an online platform and learning materials in the form of micro-modules for enhancing Statistics RPgs’ knowledge, skills and strategies in teaching and supporting students without statistics background. These learning materials will be tailor-made taking into consideration the learning needs and difficulties of these RPGs in Statistics. It is planned that these materials will be used for a to-be-developed series of workshops, conducted by the Statistics RPgs in the Phase II of the project, which will be implemented in the next triennium due to the constraint of one-year duration of this project. The workshop series will supplement and extend the scope of the current IPL Elementary SPSS courses.
Brief write-up
Project objectives
The project aims to prepare and engage RPGs in Statistics to conduct workshops on various statistical analysis methods for other postgraduate students who need to learn statistics for their research studies. The current phase involves developing micro-modules to enhance Statistics RPGs’ knowledge and skills in teaching students without a statistics background.
Activities, process and outcomes
The content of the micro-modules, which act as future teaching assistant (TA) training self-learning materials, are developed based on the consolidation of: the literature review; the findings of the survey of 179 PGs; and the in-depth interviews of two Statistics RPGs. In addition, these two Statistics RPGs were invited to go through the training materials and create pre-learning videos of the proposed trial hands-on workshops.
Deliverables and evaluation
Micro-modules for TA training, including the difficulties and anxiety in learning statistics for the non-statistics background students, their learning needs, and suitable instructional techniques, are being developed. An online course titled “Statistical Methods For Research Students” has been established on the KEEP (CU eLearning) platform. Two topics of pre-learning videos are uploaded. Pilot statistics workshops will be conducted when face-to-face teaching can be resumed. The online course content will be expanded and enhanced in the Phase II project.
Dissemination, diffusion, impact and sharing of good practices
The micro-modules will be available to all Statistics RPGs. The two TA volunteers shared their experiences and reflection on the training process and development of the pre-learning materials. Future TAs can learn from accumulated experiences to better prepare their teaching to non-statistics background students. We will apply to present our work at an upcoming CUHK Teaching and Learning Innovation Expo.
Impact on teaching and learning
The micro-modules and the development process of the learning materials can enhance Statistics RPGs’ skills in teaching other PGs without a statistics background. At the same time, other PGs can enjoy the opportunities to learn various statistical analyses. As a result, they can conduct statistical analysis independently and confidently in their current and future research.
