Teaching Statistics: Am I the Lone Dinosaur

Abstract

Teaching statistics in a social science department can be a daunting task for the new or part-time faculty member. Students have a wide range of abilities, aptitudes, interests, and motivation levels. Of course, as we all know, many social science students fear statistics. Approximately 80% of the graduate students experience statistics anxiety.1 Although this anxiety might hinder performance, many survive the course. What I find interesting is that some of these students may go on to teach undergraduate statistics courses as part of their graduate teaching duties. Therefore, teaching statistics certainly can alleviate anxiety as one is forced to know the material
well and convey it in a cogent way to undergraduates.