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You are here: Homepage > Activities > Teaching Statistics in HE > Royal Statistical Society Certificate in Teaching Statistics in Higher Education.

Royal Statistical Society Certificate in Teaching Statistics in Higher Education.

What is it?

The Certificate in Teaching Statistics is a distance-learning programme using both written and web-based material. It is designed for those who are teaching or are about to teach statistics in higher education. The programme normally lasts about a year and assumes that the staff already have some training / experience in generic teaching skills. Where this is not the case a programme of individual preliminary study would be needed. Potential participants include researchers who are required to teach, part-time staff, staff on short-term contracts who wish to develop their CV and more experienced staff who wish to extend their skills. Such staff might work, not just in statistics and mathematics groups, but across different university departments. The Course is made up of six Study Sections.

Study Sections

1. An Overview of Statistics in HE
   This helps a teacher to view statistics in the national and, where appropriate, international context, and to become aware of the variety of support mechanisms that exist.

2. Learning Statistics
   This develops those elements of learning theory that have an immediate impact on the teaching of statistics, and contains many illustrations.

3. Teaching Statistics - General
   This studies a broad range of issues faced by the statistics teacher.

4. Teaching Statistics - Specific
   This opens up the opportunity for teachers to look at their own selection of topics that they do, or may teach, and examines the contexts in which the teaching can occur.

5. Feedback and Assessment in Statistics
   This provides a study of specific methods appropriate to the formation and assessment of students' understanding and skills in statistics.

6. Computer Supported Statistics Teaching
   This section is web-based and explores both the use of statistical software and of the Internet in the teaching of statistics.

Sections 1-5 are provided in hard-copy format and section 6 is Internet-based. The sections are supported by resource packs of illustrative material, reading lists of relevant resources, supplementary materials and a web site.

Accreditation

The Certificate reflects the Royal Statistical Society (RSS, http://www.rss.org.uk) programme of Continuing Professional Development and is accredited as the Certificate in Teaching Statistics in Higher Education by the RSS.

Assessment

The material is assessed by means of a Portfolio of material. The main components of this Portfolio will be a collection of developmental material designed for a module that the participant on the course is teaching, or intends to teach. The material parallels the sections of the course and also links to a self-designed Personal Learning Objective.

Tutoring

The RSS Centre for Statistical Education appoints one or more tutors, as appropriate, on behalf of the Royal Statistical Society.

Past Participants

The RSS Certificate in Teaching Statistics in Higher Education was first awarded in 2005, and since then a total of seven awards have been made by the Royal Statistical Society. Successful participants teach statistics across a wide range of subjects and have benefited from a course designed to enhance their pedagogy through self study and distance learning.
Further details, including evaluative comments on participating in the course and examples of assessed portfolios.

Further details

Other related opportunities are described in three other links:

• Statistics Teaching in Higher Education: Professional Development Programmes;

• Resources for Personal Development: Improving you skills as a Statistics Teacher;

• Statistics Teaching in Higher Education: Induction Programmes.

Download the .pdf file of the (two-sided) brochure.

The Certificate in Teaching Statistics in HE was developed by the RSS Centre for Statistical Education and is accredited by the RSS. For enquiries about the Certificate in Teaching Statistics in Higher Education please contact:
Dr. John Marriott
Course Leader, Certificate in Teaching Statistics in HE
The Royal Statistical Society Centre for Statistical Education
Nottingham Trent University
Clifton Campus
Clifton Lane
Nottingham
NG11 8NS
Phone: (+44) 0 115 848 8309
Email: john.marriott@ntu.ac.uk

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