Jamie Perrett received his Ph.D. in statistics from Kansas State University in 2004. He has held several positions over the years both in industry and academia. He currently is an associate teaching professor in the Department of Statistics at Brigham Young University where his research focus is statistics education. He is actively involved in the American Statistical Association where he currently serves as vice-chair of the education council, a vice-chair of the Council of Chapters, co-chair of the College GAISE revision, ASA representative on the CBMS data science task force, and is an ASA Fellow.
Why did you decide to go into Statistics/Statistics Education?
I always enjoyed my statistics classes. But it would frustrate me when upon introducing myself as a statistician, the immediate response was almost always, "Ew. I hated the one statistics class I was required to take in college." I want everyone to have a positive experience with their statistics classes, especially with intro stats. So, it has been my career-long mission to make intro stats a positive learning experience for students.
Additionally, statistics can get very complex and abstract. I have always enjoyed research presentations that have been accessible to individuals with different levels of statistics education and knowledge. So, I have always focused on research that others can understand and can easily see the benefit of.
What's a class/workshop at your workplace/university that you wish you could take and why?
I really like the idea of machine learning and AI. I have always had an affinity for programming. So, the combination of statistics and programming has always been of interest to me. I would like to take more classes on those topics.
What Statistics topic do you think is the most difficult to teach well?
The central limit theorem has always been difficult for my students to grasp. So, each semester when I teach it, I put a lot of thought into how I can make it more accessible to them.
What advice would you give to someone who is new to teaching statistics?
In each class there is limited time and a lot of material. Really think about what you want students to remember 5 years after taking your course. That is where your focus should be. That should influence what topics you include in your classes and how you teach.
What is your go-to source for data?
That is a real challenge. I don't feel like I have a good go-to source for data. But I did recently learn about the ICPSR resource provided by the University of Michigan. I plan to take a look at that.
What statistics class(es) are you currently teaching? What statistics classes do you enjoy teaching the most?
I currently teach Intro Stats, ANOVA, and two Intro Data Science courses. I love all of them. I really enjoy the Intro Stats class because I usually have more than 200 students in each class. I really like the energy that comes from having that many students in a class.
What do you enjoy doing when you’re not working?
Woodworking, DIY projects, exercise, and movies
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