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Full-Text Articles in Education
Towards Remediating Undergraduate Students' Statisticophobia, Michael W. Firmin, Elizabeth Proemmel
Towards Remediating Undergraduate Students' Statisticophobia, Michael W. Firmin, Elizabeth Proemmel
Psychology Faculty Publications
In this conceptual paper, based on teaching and TA experience, seven suggestions are made for improving the statistics experience of students in social science courses. These include hiring non-mathematicians to teach the course; emphasize conceptual statistics rather than computational approaches; recognize that many, or ever most, social science students think intuitively—rather than scientifically—so teaching statistics as a means of answering questions is needed; loosen-up the mundane nature that statistics courses often follow; relate statistics to students’ day-to-day lives; and utilize an undergraduate student assistant in all sections of statistics classes.
Utilizing Undergraduate Assistants In General Education Courses, Michael W. Firmin
Utilizing Undergraduate Assistants In General Education Courses, Michael W. Firmin
Psychology Faculty Publications
This conceptual article relates a best-practice paradigm for undergraduate faculty who teach relatively large, undergraduate, general education courses and utilize an undergraduate teaching assistant (TA). Suggested characteristics for successful TAs are related as well as intrinsic and extrinsic motivators that help recruit quality assistants. Five factors are shared that are believed to have made an undergraduate TA program successful for 20 years: the quality of students recruited, helping students to handle well their peer-relationships with students in the class, learning which items can and cannot successfully be delegated to TAs, harnessing the potency of relationships, and maintaining a healthy benefit/cost …