Welcome to a new year in the Section on Statistical Education. It’s an honor to be chairing the section in 2017 – the energy and passion for statistical education among section members is quite humbling and inspiring. I hope, like me, you are excited to engage in statistical education in an era where the value of data and of individuals who can answer questions with that data has never been higher. Determining the most important ideas to teach and how to teach them seem to be fast-moving targets.
I am fortunate to be on sabbatical for the 2016-17 academic year. I’ve taken this opportunity to (a) do some project work and teach short courses at a “real world” organization that engages in considerable data analysis, and (b) try to bring my own data science skills up to speed and figure out how to incorporate additional computing into our curriculum (an old dog learning new tricks). I’m excited to return to the classroom this fall with new ideas, renewed enthusiasm, and a clearer picture of the preparation that our students need to succeed in a world thirsty for those who can harness the power of data.
Through the Section on Statistical Education, I hope that you can similarly experience new ideas, contagious enthusiasm, and a clearer picture of how to get your message across to students or colleagues. The executive committee is an awesome collection of individuals committed to our section's mission. We are coordinating many activities both within our section and with others throughout the wider statistical education community, including many featured in this newsletter. A “random” sampling of highlights includes:
Conferences like USCOTS (May 18-20) and JSM (July 29 – Aug 3)
Guidelines and resources for teaching data science
Guidelines and resources for preK-12 statistical education
Incorporating ethics into a single course or a curriculum
A brand new mentoring program
A social media presence for the Stat Ed Section
Look for details on these and other initiatives in this newsletter or in periodic email updates or Twitter!
We also want to make your ideas for improving and promoting statistical education come alive. Please contact me (roback@stolaf.edu) or any officer with ideas you have for advancing the mission of our section that could benefit from a little ($250-$500) seed money. Or contact us with ideas or questions even if you don’t need seed money!
At last count, our section is 1154 members strong, but the more, the merrier! Please continue to encourage interested individuals to join our section and participate in our activities. Check out the bullet points on our section's website that were crafted last year to both characterize our section and entice those who may want to join.
Thanks to you for your membership in the Section on Statistical Education and your support for our activities. We hope this year is a fulfilling one in your statistical education pursuits, and I look forward to interacting with many of you in the months ahead.
Sincerely,
Paul Roback
Chair, ASA Section on Statistical Education
