On May 25, the Department of Statistics hosted a regional conference on teaching statistics in conjunction with eCOTS (electronic Conference On Teaching Statistics).
The event was organized by Statistics faculty members Laura Ziegler, Anna Peterson, and Ulrike Genschel. The conference’s keynote talk was given by Advanced Placement Statistics Chief Reader-Designate Barb Barnet, who is an ISU Statistics alum and professor and chair of the Department of Mathematics at the University of Wisconsin Platteville.
We had great participation from across the state of Iowa, including several high school teachers and many community college instructors, as well as several alums who teach at liberal arts colleges in the Midwest. We had interesting discussions on topics like how the pandemic changed our approach to teaching; statistical significance and the p-value controversy; and what topics belong in an introductory statistics class.
Thanks to Laura, Anna, and Ulrike for organizing and running a great event! We look forward to hosting another regional eCOTS conference in 2024.