A lot of applied statistical techniques are best learned by doing, such as experimental design, predictive modelling, simulation, etc. Probability models (what is covered in STAT 334) are often fairly theoretical, but STAT 334 is a course for business and accounting students, who are more interested in the applications. They are also familiar with the idea of case studies from the business courses they take.
Because of that, I decided to have a Case Study Competition in STAT 334. The choice of topic was completely up to the...
When I was an aviation student, and eventually made the decision to pursue a graduate degree, it wasn't until I was about to graduate that I realized my new career as an academic really boiled down to a position as a professional writer (who also happens to teach). I expect this reality hits many of us pretty hard. Despite writing student papers and an eventual dissertation, looking down the road to a career filled with writing is very daunting.
A career as an academic is incredibly rewarding and fulfilling! Yet, developing writing skills takes time and strategy. ...
Among aviation training circles, you may have noticed the word ‘competence’ increasingly being used among your colleagues. Within pilot training, the multi-crew pilot license (MPL) was the first competency-based license. The MPL is now currently in use for many ab initio pilots around the globe.
Yet, what is competence? What does it mean and who defines what competence is? It is increasingly clear that almost everyone involved in training and assessment has their own unique opinions and definitions of competency. Why are we moving towards...
For college and university professors in a typical classroom, instead of lecturing while looking into the eyes of eager students it is increasingly common to face a sea of laptops in the classroom. This can be a frustrating experience – we invest time and energy into creating an engaging learning experience for our students but then lose their attention to the latest news on Twitter or Facebook. Let’s face it – it’s very difficult for one instructor to compete with a world of information online!
Although I often advocate for the thoughtful use of technology in...
Last year I applied for and received a LITE Seed Grant to add some new techniques to STAT 334. The three main things I added were interactive tutorials, a case study competition, and oral exams. I'll talk about each one in a different post.
Part 1: Interactive Tutorial Activities
Different instructors use tutorials in different ways, but for me the most effective way is to give the students...
I used Lego in a grad level ActSci course and it was great!
I'm teaching ACTSC 635: Actuarial Communications, a small class, and we did an interactive kinesthetic learning activity (similar to Lego Serious Play).
Phase 1: Written communication only (in partners)
Each student received a different Lego structure
They had 15 minutes to write instructions for building it
They built their partner's structure from the instructions
Not surprisingly, this was very difficult, and only 3 out of 18 got it.
Recently, I was in South Sudan to continue the work with our partners in expanding the Youth Peacemaker Network in the country. The initiative is driven by the ...
