Improvement in statistical education in the workplace
"A most informative day. If only we could be at four places at the same time"
Summary
On day one the workshops were led by Isaac Newton, the lead trainer for Minitab, Nicola Tilt, Senior Statistician and head of the Statistics Training Programme in Europe for Proctor and Gamble, Shirley Coleman, Head of the Industrial Statistics Research Unit, Newcastle University and Trevor Lewis, statistics consultant and Chair of the RSS PSC. There was general agreement that a key way to engage employers and employees with statistics is through addressing the many misconceptions that they have about the subject, by carrying out the training through ‘knowing your audience’ and proceeding at a pace that is suitable for each trainee. It is very important to emphasise the need for continuing professional development even at the most basic level of training in statistics, for example, by using informal inference from data and graphical presentations.
1 Training Statistical Software: Minitab, Misconceptions, and expenses
Discussion led by Isaac Newton, Minitab Ltd.
Minitab has a history of use by both Statisticians and non statisticians to help data analyses, and understand significance across industry and academia. There has been a growth and appreciation of how statistics can be used to further quality and provide insight into commercial industries. This has created an audience of potential users of Minitab who previously have had little contact with Statistics. With the training in using the software it has always been essential to marry this with an understanding of the statistics being used. As such there are preconceptions as to what Statistics can offer or perform. Some of the misconceptions that are commonly discovered in the course of teaching both the software and statistics were discussed.
Some of the most frequently encountered misconceptions by Minitab centre around the use of the normal distribution - some of the problems encountered were discussed using data drawn from MPs’ Expenses.
2 Experience with teaching basic statistics, experimental design and using JMP software
Discussion led by Nicola Tilt, Senior Statistician and head of the Statistics Training programme in Europe for Proctor and Gamble
At Procter and Gamble training is a big part of the culture, this does not however mean that giving training courses is easy. Nicola discussed some of the issues she has faced around the following areas and how she has (in some cases) overcome them. These inculded:
- identifying the key objectives of the training;
- fitting training around the “day job”;
- keeping training fun and relevant;
- using JMP software;
- tailoring the courses to the specific problems of the clients.
3 Training in statistics for process improvement for people in the workplace
Shirley Coleman, Industrial Statistics Research Unit, Newcastle University
The Industrial Statistics Research Unit offers training at three levels:
- introductory practical statistics for local government planning officers;
- the statistics as part of six sigma training, offered to managers of various sorts, for example to the healthcare and financial sectors;
- specialised statistical courses in, for example, Design of Experiments (offered to engineers and operators).
Shirley discussed the training techniques she uses and gave some examples of the practical exercises. The audience was invited to present ideas for Design of Experiments practicals and to lead a discussion session on them.
4 Experience with training people through the RSS Professional Development Centre and the role of the RSS in the workplace
The discussion was led by Trevor Lewis, statistics consultant. He stressed that for statisticians working in industry, commerce, government or research organisations ‘statistical education in the workplace’ should be a component of continuing professional development (CPD). He examined the roles of the professional body, principally the Royal Statistical Society (RSS), and the employer in the CPD of the employee. He matched the mission of the RSS as both a learned and professional body with the more general definitions from the Professional Associations Research Network (PARN). Trevor considered several categories of CPD and concentrated on work-based learning. The final questions that were posed related to possible priorities for the RSS in engaging in the workplace.
