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Teaching Large Classes
Department of Statistics
Rachel Fewster
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What is a teacher?• A communicator
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What sort of communicator?
Broadcaster
Flight attendantArtist
Loudspeaker
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Broadcaster
Flight attendantArtist
LoudspeakerMessenger
Messenger
Inanimate objectWhat sort of communicator?
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Artist
Messenger
Messenger
Inanimate objectWhat sort of communicator?
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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:
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This is water!
That’s creativity!
Impression – Sunrise, by Claude Monet (1872)
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Messengerwith
personality
Messenger
Inanimate object
Don’t aspire to be…
Or even…
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Teaching is a creative art
A good teacher creates something all of their own
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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…?
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• Understanding chance
• Communicating concepts
• Encouraging critical thinking
• Doing something creative with my subject
Why teach Statistics?
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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
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Me? or Them?
Theorem Proof
TheoremProof
CorollaryProof
Example
Motivation Example
Bit of theoryMore example
More theoryExampleExampleExample
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How I learnt…
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How I teach
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Engage curiosity
Give history andpersonalities
Use examples and diagrams
Build intuition
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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
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The Student
Course Materials& Lecture Notes
You
Ingredients for learning
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The Student
Course Materials& Lecture Notes
You
Ingredients for learning
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Insight!Understanding!
Enthusiasm!
Ingredients for learning
12 weeks later…
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The Student
Ingredients for learning
• Background knowledge
• Aspirations
• Career plans
Get a Degree
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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
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• 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
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• 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
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The Student
Course Materials& Lecture Notes
You
Ingredients for learning
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Course Materials& Lecture Notes
ABLANKPAGE
Course notes like a map
Aim to build a landscape
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Course Materials& Lecture Notes
Lake
Saddle
Ridges
Essential features clear for everyone
Course notes like a map
Aim to build a landscape
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Course Materials& Lecture Notes
Lake
Saddle
Ridges
Finer points there for the taking
Course notes like a map
Aim to build a landscape
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Don’t overdo content!
Ridges
LakeSaddle
This is what you know and
love
This is most of what you
will get across
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But if you try to put across
all this…
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…you’ll succeed in
communicating this!
Ridges
LakeSaddle
This is better!
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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!
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Begin with low-context example, to focus on the ideas
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Progress to more intriguing examples
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Aim to stimulate CURIOSITY
Pictures and colour do this
best!
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The Student
Course Materials& Lecture Notes
You
Ingredients for learning
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The Student
Course Materials& Lecture Notes
You
Ingredients for learningDon’t assume I’m the same as you!
Less
content
=
more
gain
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What’s left for… You?
Your job is to breathe life into the landscape!
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The Conceptual Landscape
• Instinct for the material• Concepts spring to life• A beautiful / satisfying place to explore• Personality and character
CB
A
??
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• 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!
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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
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There must be something positive!
Students will associate a positive vibe with the subject matter - even if by accident!
Creativity
Spontaneity
Elegance or liveliness
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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…
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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My Top Tips:
• Be nice
• Smile
• Invest creativity into your teaching
• Don’t take yourself too seriously