Start Date
3-12-2024 2:30 PM
End Date
3-12-2024 3:00 PM
Keywords
Statistical literacy, teaching, regression
Description of Proposal
Descriptive and inferential statistics are taught to students in many disciplines. More classroom time is often spent on the theory behind different statistical methods that investigate relationships between variables rather than on how to interpret the results obtained to answer the research question that started the process. While statistical software (such as R, Stata, and SPSS) has made it easier to undertake regression with any dataset, the output produced remains challenging to understand and explain to intended audiences. To address this issue, the author created a 90-minute workshop that teaches students how to read tables of descriptive statistics and linear regression results produced by statistical software. It focuses on tips for identifying and understanding what is important in these tables based on their purposes. The workshop has been taught each semester at the author’s institution since its creation in the Fall 2022 term, attracting a predominantly graduate student audience. Feedback has been positive thus far, with student requests for additional workshops on reading the results of different statistical models, such as logistic and count regression.
Through an explanation of the steps followed and resources used to create the workshop, this presentation will provide a practical example of how librarians can teach others how to read descriptive statistics and regression results using a research question and their experiences working with data to guide them. Lessons learned from promoting and delivering the workshop will also be presented.
Teaching students to read regression results: A statistical literacy lesson plan for librarians
Descriptive and inferential statistics are taught to students in many disciplines. More classroom time is often spent on the theory behind different statistical methods that investigate relationships between variables rather than on how to interpret the results obtained to answer the research question that started the process. While statistical software (such as R, Stata, and SPSS) has made it easier to undertake regression with any dataset, the output produced remains challenging to understand and explain to intended audiences. To address this issue, the author created a 90-minute workshop that teaches students how to read tables of descriptive statistics and linear regression results produced by statistical software. It focuses on tips for identifying and understanding what is important in these tables based on their purposes. The workshop has been taught each semester at the author’s institution since its creation in the Fall 2022 term, attracting a predominantly graduate student audience. Feedback has been positive thus far, with student requests for additional workshops on reading the results of different statistical models, such as logistic and count regression.
Through an explanation of the steps followed and resources used to create the workshop, this presentation will provide a practical example of how librarians can teach others how to read descriptive statistics and regression results using a research question and their experiences working with data to guide them. Lessons learned from promoting and delivering the workshop will also be presented.
What takeaways will attendees learn from your session?
Attendees will obtain a practical road map for creating a statistical literacy workshop for graduate students.