I've been a professor of mathematics and statistics at St. Lawrence University for 42 years. I love my job, and I continue to find the work and the students inspiring. My husband and our three children all also have PhDs in statistics and the five of us wrote a book together. I think I have the best career in the world.
Why did you decide to go into Statistics/Statistics Education?
I have had the best possible mentor, in my husband, Robin H. Lock. While I was working with a Calculus Consortium to try to find ways to teach calculus more effectively, he was helping me see how to teach statistics more effectively. I love the fact that I can use interesting and relevant data every single class in my statistics courses, and that I can draw these examples and exercises from so many different fields. Statistics is very fun to teach!
What Statistics Topic do you think is the most difficult to teach well?
I think both sampling variability and strength of evidence are difficult concepts for students.
What advice would you give to someone who is new to teaching statistics?
Use real data, use interesting examples, and use technology. Minimize algebraic manipulations.
What is your go-to source for data?
I love getting survey data from pewresearch.org.
What statistics classes do you enjoy teaching the most?
I love teaching Intro Stats and getting students (including those who never thought they would like statistics) really excited about going on in statistics or data science.
What do you enjoy doing when you’re not working?
Spending time with family and friends.
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