A Course Community for a Culture Change

Abstract

At Middle TN State University (MTSU), the introductory statistics class is taught by a diverse set of instructors. The ideal teacher for this course would be both statistically trained and experienced in the classroom. However, we often have people who are experienced teachers, but not statistically trained, like instructors with a Master’s in mathematics. Or statistically trained, but not experienced teachers, like graduate students in our Biostatistics program.

When we decided to change the teaching method of this class to focus on more active-learning and less lecture-based classes, we had to consider the various types of instructors, and reasons they might feel uncomfortable with this change. We formed a course community in which all the instructors of this course were invited to meet approximately every two weeks during the semester before the change and the semester in which the change happened. This webinar will discuss how the course community functioned and the effects that it had on the teaching of this course.