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Look what's new at JSE!


“I am thrilled to announce on behalf of the JSE Editorial Board the creation of a new section of the journal focused on statistics education in the health sciences. This new section fits in well with the JSE mission to ‘disseminate knowledge for the improvement of statistics education at all levels, including elementary, secondary, postsecondary, postgraduate, continuing, and workplace education,’” writes Matt Hayat, TSHS Member and Associate Editor for the Journal of Statistics Education (JSE), in his recent editorial[1].

The JSE is an open access journal hosted by Taylor and Francis and supported by the American Statistical Association. Matt notes that the articles published in JSE about best practices in statistics education have been helpful as he navigates the development of training programs for nurses and in the school of public health where he works. He also lauds JSE for their role in the development of the GAISE Report[2], which modernized statistics education practices at the grade-school and university level. Yet he notes “to date, there has not been funding available, nor a targeted publication outlet, for health-focused statistics education research.”

But, now there is! This new health statistics section of JSE provides such a publication outlet. It was kicked off on August 21, 2018 with two great articles.

The first article, titled “The Importance of Statistical Competencies for Medical Research Learners”[3] was authored by current TSHS secretary/treasurer Bob Oster and former TSHS Chair Felicity Enders. In their study, they review the evolution of statistics competencies for medical researchers. They determine that “learners who intend to become independent principal investigators require more specialized training, while those intending to become informed consumers of the medical literature require more fundamental education.” Thus, “the goal of the study was to determine the degree to which each statistical competency is fundamental, i.e., necessary for all learners, or specialized, i.e., necessary for only some learners.”

Over 100 educators responded to a survey ranking each of 24 competencies. Nineteen were identified as “fundamental” and five as "specialized." The paper closes with an open invitation to use this work to develop evaluation tools, modular course materials, and online training so that we can move away from the one-size-fits-all curriculum and better prepare our medical researchers.

The second, titled “Findings from a Survey of Statistics and Biostatistics Instructors in the Health Sciences Who Teach Using an Online or Flipped Format”[4] was authored by TSHS member Todd Schwartz, and colleagues Elizabeth Ajazi, and Jane Monaco. In their study, they collected survey responses from 24 biostatistics instructors who use online or flipped classroom formats. They also had responses from 21 statistics instructors teaching outside of the health sciences as well.

As described by the authors, the paper presents “a snapshot of the current use of these formats in teaching (bio)statistics in the health sciences, as well as informing other similar instructors who may be considering their own implementation of one of these formats.” While some formats or elements seem to get a ‘meh’ from the respondents, most agreed that active learning in the classroom is worth it. What do you think? Share in the comments below or send me a note about your experiences.

  1. Matthew J. Hayat (2018) Statistics Education in the Health Sciences, Journal of Statistics Education, 26:2, 135-136, DOI: 10.1080/10691898.2018.1483786

  2. GAISE College Report ASA Revision Committee, “Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education College Report 2016,” http://www.amstat.org/education/gaise.

  3. Oster, R. A., and Enders, F. T. (2018). “The Importance of Statistical Competencies for Medical Research Learners,” Journal of Statistics Education, 26, 137–142. DOI:10.1080/10691898.2018.1484674

  4. Schwartz, T. A., Ajazi, E., and Monaco, J. (2018), “Findings from a Survey of Statistics and Biostatistics Instructors in the Health Sciences Who Teach Using an Online or Flipped Format,” Journal of Statistics Education, 26, 143–148. DOI:10.1080/10691898.2018.1484675.

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