Social Psychology with Jeff

In Fall 2019, I will teach my seventh (?!?!) introductory statistics in psychology course. Since Spring 2017, I have taught statistics to over 250 students. About half are psychology students, and the other half come from various disciplines in the social sciences and humanities. Almost every year, the students ask the following types of questions on the first day of class:

• “How hard is the math?” Not that hard, but the logic behind statistics and probabilities can be confusing at first.
• “Do we need the textbook?” Yes. Being exposed to material in multiple methods can increase information retention. Also, you need it for your homework.
• “Will I be provided a study guide before each test?” No. You can make your own, however, and use it as a reference for your test. We will, however, review key concepts before each test, and key concepts are more likely to be assessed than obscure tangents (although, if you know me at all, you know that I love obscure tangents).

Throughout the semester, I also give students a chance to ask questions about how the course is going. Every year, many students will ask a variation of the following question in a one-on-one or offhanded way: “Will I pass? I am really scared for this class because of how hard everyone says this class will be.”

It is an important and relevant question. Most people contemplate it when they take statistics, especially considering it may be either their only math requirement or one of two math requirements for their major. I asked a version of that question when I took statistics myself in Fall 2013 for my MA degree.

Now, after being a teaching assistant for three advanced graduate courses in statistics and teaching statistics at the undergraduate level, I have a way to answer this question when students ask me if they specifically will pass.

Will most students pass? Probably, yes. Most students who take my class get a passing grade. Students who tend to not pass either (1) miss many class days or (2) are not motivated to meaningfully partake in the course.

With that said, this is a challenging course. Will you specifically pass? I do not know, because I do not know you as an individual student. As much as we can use demographic or situational information to predict what types of students will do better than others, individuals will still vary in their performance from what we would usually expect. Stated another way, just because something should happen does not mean it will happen.

I cannot tell you if you will specifically pass statistics. Introductory statistics is challenging. There are differences in how people teach and assess statistical knowledge, which can lead to mismatches between a student’s ability or effort and what their instructor is looking for. But I can use data to design a course that will hopefully allow you to succeed, and I can serve as a guide to help you get to your end goal—whether the goal is to learn statistics more deeply or to get the grade you need to move on with your life.

I can tell you what you can expect. You will spend your semester or quarter learning about the three general steps of doing statistics. First, we figure out what is happening. Are our two groups different? Is there covariation between two or more variables? What is going on? Once we do that, we then need to determine the probability of that effect occurring, the range of values that the observed effect could fall into, or whether our effect size is small, medium, or large. Lastly, we need to determine what to do and how to act based on our findings from our first and second questions.

I can also use data in two ways. After all, learning is a partnership and a group-level processes. First, I can use data to identify the behaviors or characteristics associated with succeeding in the course:

• Find your motivation for why you are taking this course and remember it when times are tough.
• Ask for help.
• Learn to be a self-advocate and to put yourself first when you need to.
• Brush up on linear algebra before taking statistics.
• Ask others who have taken the course with your professor about their professional biases regarding what they care about and how they grade.
• Show up to class.
• Attempt to complete every assignment.
• Use available resources from the professor, TA, or department.
• Try to identify what you do not know and where the misunderstanding’s source is.

Second, I can use data to create a class that should allow you to show your ability or effort. Specifically, I can:

• Make multiple low-stakes assignments—including tests.
• Encourage peer tutoring and peer problem solving.
• Create an environment where it is okay to ask questions and to show that everyone makes mistakes sometimes (and own up to them in a meaningful way when I make a mistake).
• Assign anything that does not need to be assessed for comprehension as credit/no-credit.
• Dedicate a meaningful portion of in-class time dedicated to working assignments.
• Identify and provide additional resources through my department or elsewhere.
• Find what others have done to improve learning in the classroom or lecture hall (James Lang’s book Cheating Lessons https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674724631 is a great resource to identify how to improve learning outcomes and reduce academic dishonesty)

In short, I do not know if you will pass statistics. I know that many students will, and that data shows both who is more likely to pass and how to increase passing rates. But I believe that if you—yes, you, the person who is reading this right now and contemplating your future successes and challenges with statistics—will probably pass if you learn how to effectively learn the material, how to be your best self-advocate, and commit to fulfilling all course requirements.

If you are teaching statistics and are wondering how to help your students, ask yourself what would have helped you throughout your statistics journey and identify resources to help students like you. Then, imagine (or ask) your friends who took statistics with you about what would help them. Lastly, see what resources are out there to help students learn statistics and see whether the data backs up their claims.

Good luck on your journey—whether you are learning or teaching statistics. The data says that you should succeed. A little bit of good luck will hopefully help you on your journey.

1. Much of this perspective applies to your methods course as well. FYI.