'No More Pointy-Clicking, Numbers Stuff: Building Staff Quantitative Skills.'
Lead Research Organisation:
Manchester Metropolitan University
Department Name: Sociology
Abstract
There is a growing awareness in the social sciences, particularly sociology, that undergraduate students lack numbers-skills and the ability to conduct statistical analysis of data. There are a variety of reasons for this relating to a national problem with maths teaching at all levels; national low levels of numeracy; sociology students seeing their subject as 'arts' and 'people' rather than 'science' and 'numbers'; poor teaching of statistical analysis; often baffling jargon; and a lack of 'real world' application. Although this issue is beginning to be addressed, little attention has been given to the increasingly low levels of statistical and numbers skills among the staff who teach those students. More often than not students are being taught statistical analysis by staff with only rudimentary skills in this topic; this typically leads to low levels of student (and staff) satisfaction with such courses. This has the knock-on effect of turning students away from such topics and skills; meaning fewer graduates will go on to careers using these skills or indeed teaching them to others. Thus, addressing staff skills levels is crucial to addressing the issue, within the social sciences, of poor numbers skills among undergraduates.
This project aims to this issue by producing an integrated approach to staff training and support that has departmental and institutional support that will continue beyond the project's funding cycle. It seeks to do this by developing and running two quantitative methods training courses, one of which will be tailored to the needs of staff who have only a basic level of knowledge, and the other seeks to develop specialist skills in some staff who have prior statistical training. Staff will receive academic credit for the course and this could be used to achieve a teaching qualification. As well as supporting the development of core skills; the project will also train and support staff specifically in relation to the teaching challenges presented by quantitative and 'numbers' work. An annual workshop will be run that will focus on 'what works' and the sharing of best practice between staff. A peer-coaching system will be established for staff to provide mutual support and development during teaching. Staff will be encouraged, through the teaching workshop sessions, to embed space for 'numbers work' in non-quantitative courses. The project seeks to demonstrate how an integrated approach to staff training and support can be achieved.
The findings of this project will be useful for all HE staff involved in teaching quantitative and statistical methods, providing online staff support materials for others to use and it will influence teaching and learning theory and practice as it relates, specifically to sociology, and more generally to other social science subjects.
This project aims to this issue by producing an integrated approach to staff training and support that has departmental and institutional support that will continue beyond the project's funding cycle. It seeks to do this by developing and running two quantitative methods training courses, one of which will be tailored to the needs of staff who have only a basic level of knowledge, and the other seeks to develop specialist skills in some staff who have prior statistical training. Staff will receive academic credit for the course and this could be used to achieve a teaching qualification. As well as supporting the development of core skills; the project will also train and support staff specifically in relation to the teaching challenges presented by quantitative and 'numbers' work. An annual workshop will be run that will focus on 'what works' and the sharing of best practice between staff. A peer-coaching system will be established for staff to provide mutual support and development during teaching. Staff will be encouraged, through the teaching workshop sessions, to embed space for 'numbers work' in non-quantitative courses. The project seeks to demonstrate how an integrated approach to staff training and support can be achieved.
The findings of this project will be useful for all HE staff involved in teaching quantitative and statistical methods, providing online staff support materials for others to use and it will influence teaching and learning theory and practice as it relates, specifically to sociology, and more generally to other social science subjects.
Planned Impact
Pedagogic Impact, Impact on Educational Policy Makers
This project will directly impact on pedagogic theory and practice in relation to the issue of poor staff training and low skills among quantitative teachers by demonstrating how to build staff skills through a 'joined up' approach to staff development. The project's findings in relation to the engagement of staff in 'peer coaching' and pedagogic knowledge exchange will also make a significant contribution to pedagogic theory and practice. The academic impact of the project will begin within the thirty six month cycle of the project and its findings will be disseminated by the end of its lifespan.
Non-Academic Impact
During the course of the project, staff will develop their personal quantitative research skills and their teaching skills in relation to delivering quantitative methods to undergraduates. Therefore this project will deliver better quantitative teachers and so should produce graduates who are quantitative skills confident. These graduates will have key transferable quantitative skills. There is a well-documented shortage of numerate and numbers-literate graduates; therefore, this project will have a national and regional (the majority of our graduates remain within the North West) economic impact by seeking to address this problem by directly generating numbers-literate graduates. This economic impact will not be seen until the end of the project's lifespan, when the first cohort graduates and as it typically takes students between 12-24 months to settle into their future career, then we cannot expect to see economic impact for 2-3 years after the project ends.
This project will directly impact on pedagogic theory and practice in relation to the issue of poor staff training and low skills among quantitative teachers by demonstrating how to build staff skills through a 'joined up' approach to staff development. The project's findings in relation to the engagement of staff in 'peer coaching' and pedagogic knowledge exchange will also make a significant contribution to pedagogic theory and practice. The academic impact of the project will begin within the thirty six month cycle of the project and its findings will be disseminated by the end of its lifespan.
Non-Academic Impact
During the course of the project, staff will develop their personal quantitative research skills and their teaching skills in relation to delivering quantitative methods to undergraduates. Therefore this project will deliver better quantitative teachers and so should produce graduates who are quantitative skills confident. These graduates will have key transferable quantitative skills. There is a well-documented shortage of numerate and numbers-literate graduates; therefore, this project will have a national and regional (the majority of our graduates remain within the North West) economic impact by seeking to address this problem by directly generating numbers-literate graduates. This economic impact will not be seen until the end of the project's lifespan, when the first cohort graduates and as it typically takes students between 12-24 months to settle into their future career, then we cannot expect to see economic impact for 2-3 years after the project ends.
Publications
Scott Jones J
(2015)
'I'm not a quants person'; key strategies in building competence and confidence in staff who teach quantitative research methods'
in International Journal of Social Research Methodology
Scott Jones, J
(2017)
Telling Stories, Landing Planes and Getting them moving: a holistic approach to developing students' statistical literacy
in Statistics Education Research Journal
Description | To ensure that the UK's quantitative methods skill deficit is addressed, the training of staff is as important as the training of students. A large number of staff who currently deliver quantitative methods (QM) to undergraduates have very low level QM skills and lack confidence. This research found that staff attitudes to QM frequently mirrored those of their students. The research team developed a holistic approach to training staff, which addressed four key elements: technical proficiency in using data analysis software; conceptual understanding of key concepts; opportunities to practice skills once learnt; and the pedagogic, ie. what strategies/techniques can I use to teach this material. This holistic approach raised staff confidence levels and improved teaching within 18 months of the project's start. The holistic approach was then used by staff in their approach to teaching students, ie, the QM modules were redesigned to incorporate the same four key elements. However, the research team discovered that in order for the staff to fully engage in the training, there needed to be incentives for staff: the team used workload recognition as a key driver. In addition, the research team worked with to modify departmental culture to make it more QM-inclusive, through a valuing QM strategy, that included embedding QM into the wider curriculum, investing in teaching infrastructure, and identifying QM as a departmental strategic priority. The research team developed two training courses as a result of this funding; one introductory and one advanced. This has created six teaching data sets, a staff handbook, two student handbooks, and related teaching materials. These materials have since (post-modification) been used as a template for delivering staff training in QM to external agencies, including one national charity and school teachers. This research has directly impacted on the QM training of over two thousand students; raising pass rates, overall average grades, and satisfaction levels. One legacy of this project is the successful award of Q-Step Centre status in 2013. |
Exploitation Route | The research team have started to disseminate their key findings and materials to other QM teachers, both in HE, the secondary sector and beyond. |
Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Education |
Description | To ensure that the UK's quantitative methods skill deficit is addressed, the training of staff is as important as the training of students. A large number of staff who currently deliver quantitative methods (QM) to undergraduates have very low level QM skills and lack confidence. This research found that staff attitudes to QM frequently mirrored those of their students. The research team developed a holistic approach to training staff, which addressed four key elements: technical proficiency in using data analysis software; conceptual understanding of key concepts; opportunities to practice skills once learnt; and the pedagogic, ie. what strategies/techniques can I use to teach this material. This holistic approach raised staff confidence levels and improved teaching within 18 months of the project's start. Such a holistic approach was also shown to be key to designing and delivering QM to undergraduates. The findings of this research have been used to upskill QM staff in HE, the secondary sector and within the voluntary sector. This research has had a direct impact on the QM training of over two thousand students, raising achievement and confidence levels. |
First Year Of Impact | 2011 |
Sector | Education |
Impact Types | Societal |
Description | Q-Step Centre |
Amount | £1,150,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | Nuffield Foundation |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 10/2013 |
End | 10/2018 |
Description | STEM Project |
Amount | £9,500 (GBP) |
Organisation | Higher Education Academy |
Sector | Academic/University |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 10/2012 |
End | 07/2013 |
Description | Quantitative Data Analysis Training for Voluntary Sector Organisations |
Organisation | British Red Cross |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | Designed and delivered a training course for the British Red Cross field managers on how to analyse quantitative data. We are now in our second year of delivering this course. We have also designed and delivered an introduction to quantitative data analysis for smaller voluntary sector partners. |
Collaborator Contribution | Shared data sets, provided feedback on practice and teaching. |
Impact | Student and tutor guidebooks; teaching dataset. Student placement opportunities. |
Start Year | 2014 |
Description | Quantitative Data Analysis Training for Voluntary Sector Organisations |
Organisation | Citizens Advice |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | Designed and delivered a training course for the British Red Cross field managers on how to analyse quantitative data. We are now in our second year of delivering this course. We have also designed and delivered an introduction to quantitative data analysis for smaller voluntary sector partners. |
Collaborator Contribution | Shared data sets, provided feedback on practice and teaching. |
Impact | Student and tutor guidebooks; teaching dataset. Student placement opportunities. |
Start Year | 2014 |
Description | Quantitative Data Analysis Training for Voluntary Sector Organisations |
Organisation | Greater Manchester Boys and Girls Clubs |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | Designed and delivered a training course for the British Red Cross field managers on how to analyse quantitative data. We are now in our second year of delivering this course. We have also designed and delivered an introduction to quantitative data analysis for smaller voluntary sector partners. |
Collaborator Contribution | Shared data sets, provided feedback on practice and teaching. |
Impact | Student and tutor guidebooks; teaching dataset. Student placement opportunities. |
Start Year | 2014 |
Description | 'Competent and confident teachers; competent and confident students', QM Teachers Workshop, British Academy, London |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | 70 QM teachers attended, which sparked discussion and questions afterwards; along with requests for more information. Raised awareness of the outcomes of our RDI grant and specific techniques we have developed to train QM teachers. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
Description | P is for Pedagogy; why pedagogy is fundamental to the QM debate, QM Teachers workshop, ESRC Methods Festival, Oxford |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Shared information on pedagogic innovation. Sparked interest in project and highlighted available resources. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
Description | QM Without Tears? Experiences in Pedagogical Innovation |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Presented workshop on our approach to training QM teachers |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |