By Bethany White (University of Toronto) and Nnenna Asidianya; Fred Song; Anastasia Teterina; Alexander Valencia Sanchez (University of Toronto)
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Graduate students in higher education across the world often contribute to instruction as teaching assistants or even the instructor on record (Justice, Zieffler, & Garfield, 2017). Even if they are not involved with teaching, the ability to communicate statistical concepts to a variety of audiences is an essential skill for statisticians (ASA Undergraduate Guidelines Workgroup, 2014). An elective graduate-level course in statistics education is offered at our institution that counts toward students’ degree programs. This course is designed more as an introduction to the field of statistics education and its scholarship and to scholarly teaching, rather than as teacher preparation. Through engagement with statistics education research, evidence-based learning activities, and peer-to-peer discussion and feedback, students strengthen their communication skills, critical thinking and reflective practice which will serve them well regardless of their career paths. The course is built on three key pillars: experiential learning, authentic activities and assessments, and flexible pathways that allow students to pursue their individual interests. Further, it aligns with the recommendations for graduate-level professional development in teaching statistics outlined by Justice (2020). In this beyond, we will describe the course design, and reflect on our learning in the course. This course is offered at a large research-intensive university in Canada. Most undergraduate statistics course sections at our institution have 200 or more students, but the graduate course discussed here typically enrolls 8-10 students pursuing Master's or PhD degrees in statistics or biostatistics. Not all graduate students who take this course have taught nor plan to teach.