Online Program

Friday, February 22
CS07 Theme 1: Communication, Impact and Career Development #3 Fri, Feb 22, 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM
Napoleon D3

Teaching Communication in Statistical Collaborations (302575)

View Presentation View Presentation

*Eric Vance, Laboratory for Interdisciplinary Statistical Analysis & Virginia Tech 

Keywords: communication, statistical consulting, collaboration, video

All grad and undergraduate statistics majors at Virginia Tech take “Communication in Statistical Collaborations,” a course that attempts to teach “everything they need to know to be successful statisticians that they don’t learn in their regular statistics classes.” One course is not enough to teach “everything” they need to know, so we focus on explaining statistics to non-statisticians, leading effective meetings, teamwork and collaboration, oral and written communication, and how to listen and ask questions to help the client use statistical thinking to answer their research questions. We also collect and analyze data on how well we collaborate with clients by video recording meetings and reviewing them. In this interactive session, we will solicit feedback on the course and will demonstrate (live!) how you can use video to improve your statistical collaboration skills. How well do you communicate statistics to non-statisticians? How well do you collaborate? Do your clients always understand you? The best answers come from applying statistical thinking to your own practice and collecting data on your interactions with non-statisticians, not just relying on recall of past events.