Caprice 1-2
Teaching Statistics in an Online, Asynchronous Classroom: Strategies for Keeping Students Engaged (304884)
*Jennifer Ann Morrow, University of TennesseeLisa Shipley, University of Tennessee
Brenna Berry, University of Tennessee
Keywords: Statistics Education, Distance Education, Graduate Students
As the popularity of distance education grows, so does the demand for teaching statistics online. Some universities opt for teaching their course synchronously (in real time) and others conduct their statistics courses in an asynchronous classroom. Asynchronous learning brings about both advantages as well as challenges, such as lower student satisfaction with an instructor’s enthusiasm for course material (Summers, Waigandt, & Whittaker, 2005) and keeping students engaged (Hewitt, 2005; Murphy & Coleman, 2002). How do statistics faculty keep students interested and participating in online discussions? What types of activities and course structures assist in keeping statistics students actively learning the material? How does social, cognitive, and teaching presence impact engagement? In our presentation, we will discuss our experiences teaching two different online asynchronous statistics courses. We will review what activities worked well with our students, how we organized our course to ensure maximum engagement, and our suggestions of best practices for keeping students who are learning new statistical concepts engaged in an asynchronous classroom.