John Harraway | University of Otago (original) (raw)

Papers by John Harraway

Statistical journal of the IAOS, Sep 1, 2021

How should we teach the users of official statistics? Many government advisors lack adequate math... more How should we teach the users of official statistics? Many government advisors lack adequate mathematical and statistical skills. The authors were part of different teams that developed a National Certificate of Official Statistics comprising four modules taught face-to-face with competency-based assessment that included a workplace project, and three free downloadable web apps in official statistics hosted on the International Statistical Literacy Project website. They also supplied draft content for a United Nations Institute of Training and Research (UNITAR) e-learning course Understanding data and statistics better-for more effective SDG decision making comprised of five self-teaching modules. Key common elements in this progression from a country specific paper-based course to an international e-learning course targeted at the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, included: establishing cooperative teams, including information technology and course design experts de-mathematising statistical content, in favour of conceptual understanding using visual tools, such as dynamic and interactive graphics, to interpret data recreating as little material as possible with use of freely available internet tools. There were challenges to be overcome: how to make the content internationally applicable to an international audience; how to keep material up-to-date and relevant and how to provide appropriate formative and/or summative assessment.

Statistics Education Research Journal, Nov 29, 2005

A postal survey was conducted regarding statistical techniques, research methods and software use... more A postal survey was conducted regarding statistical techniques, research methods and software used in the workplace by 913 graduates with PhD and Masters degrees in the biological sciences, psychology, business, economics, and statistics. The study identified gaps between topics and techniques learned at university and those used in the workplace, and points to deficiencies in statistical preparation for employment. Courses requested include multivariate statistics, generalized linear models, research design and power analysis taught with minimal emphasis on probability and mathematics. Recommendations are presented, such as expanding statistical service courses to eliminate gaps, the development of intensive workshops for postgraduate students and for workplace retraining, or involving staff from other departments to provide context for statistics teaching.

Marine Biology, Aug 1, 2003

Please find attached the final pdf file of your contribution, which can be viewed using the Acrob... more Please find attached the final pdf file of your contribution, which can be viewed using the Acrobat Reader, version 3.0 or higher. We would kindly like to draw your attention to the fact that copyright law is also valid for electronic products. This means especially that: • You may not alter the pdf file, as changes to the published contribution are prohibited by copyright law. • You may print the file and distribute it amongst your colleagues in the scientific community for scientific and/or personal use.

Bridging the Gap: Empowering and Educating Today’s Learners in Statistics. Proceedings of the Eleventh International Conference on Teaching Statistics, Dec 1, 2022

Twenty motivational videos that focus on applied statistics are available on the University of Ot... more Twenty motivational videos that focus on applied statistics are available on the University of Otago website. These are accompanied by data and lessons that are targeted at students in schools and universities that use GenStat software. The videos and lessons cover a range of techniques and have been popular with over 100,000 page visits since 2011. We outline transitioning the lessons to R software. R is freely available and widely used, including in the statistics curriculum at the University of Otago. The updated lessons are written using the Quarto package and are available online. Relative to static documents, no downloads are required, and the lessons offer new possibilities for interaction between the students and code.

International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology, Nov 1, 2001

The content of a course on introductory biostatistics for health science students is described. T... more The content of a course on introductory biostatistics for health science students is described. The course, first taught in 1998, embodies, among other topics, most of the desirable features discussed by Sahai and Ojeda. The syllabus and associated project work are presented ...

Marine Mammal Science, Jul 1, 1999

Theodolite tracking (61 d; 251 h) was used to quantify dolphin reactions to boats and swimmers in... more Theodolite tracking (61 d; 251 h) was used to quantify dolphin reactions to boats and swimmers in the austral summers of 1995-1996 and 1996-1997. Dolphins were accompanied by swimmers (within 200 m) for 11.2% of the total observation time, whereas boats accounted for an additional 12.4%. Dolphins were not displaced by either of these activities. Swimmers caused only weak, non-significant effects, perhaps because dolphins could very easily avoid them. Reactions to the dolphin-watching boat were stronger. Analyses of relative orientation indicate that dolphins tended to approach the vessel in the initial stages of an encounter but became less interested as the encounter progressed. By 70 min into an encounter dolphins were either actively avoiding the boat or equivocal towards it, approaching significantly less often than would be expected by chance. Analyses of group dispersion indicate that dolphins were significantly more tightly bunched when a boat was in the bay.

Data generating project work in middle school is a successful component of statistics training at... more Data generating project work in middle school is a successful component of statistics training at this level. CensusAtSchool, GAISE, CAUSE projects and Statistics New Zealand SURFs also provide data for investigation in middle school and beyond. To motivate students further, real data from current research should be used in the classroom to help take statistics training to the next level. Such data are described. Eleven research projects are presented in DVDs with matching data provided on CDs. Context is outlined, study design and data collection are discussed, and proposals are made for analyses to answer questions. The DVDs, developed for use in 2009, feature illustrated researcher talks. The DVDs and CDs are also available for viewing on the web. A range of studies are described along with tasks to be carried out. Feedback from school teachers and students on relevance of this resource will be discussed.

Motivational data and statistical analyses arise in research in the workplace and at university. ... more Motivational data and statistical analyses arise in research in the workplace and at university. Videos of researchers developing context are recorded. As well as designed experiments researching food authentication, the videos show data from surveys reviewing social issues. These include a postal survey of 2200 citizens investigating use of taxes for building a controversial sports stadium, a telephone survey of attitudes of 1200 women to alcohol consumption during pregnancy, and contrasting opinions of 5000 tourists from Japan, Australia and Germany to the attractions of New Zealand. The studies are practical, relevant and locally generated which capture student interest. Survey design is discussed. Statistical techniques used are regression modelling and multivariate procedures. A data set is given to students who have eight weeks to analyze it and write a report of 25 pages for the organization which commissioned the study.

Postgraduates and researchers in many disciplines use advanced statistics procedures. Statistics ... more Postgraduates and researchers in many disciplines use advanced statistics procedures. Statistics backgrounds often extend to at most an introductory course on statistical methods. Effective ways of providing training in these advanced procedures must be found. Emphasizing content, prerequisites and target groups, a summary of specialized courses offered at this level over the last two years and advertised internationally is presented. Then local four day intensive workshops on advanced topics for ecologists are described. These workshops draw on research contexts familiar to participants and use appropriate software. Menu driven packages or self written programs may be used. Participants in the workshops can bring their own data or data are chosen from their discipline. The teacher is introduced to the researchers which may result in future collaboration. Student evaluations of the workshops are reported leading to recommendations for further training.

Statistical journal of the IAOS, 2013

Statistics New Zealand is actively involved in raising the statistical capability of key groups o... more Statistics New Zealand is actively involved in raising the statistical capability of key groups of users. Current priority groups are government, the media and Maori (indigenous New Zealand) and, in the recent past, schools and small businesses. Initiatives designed to support statistical literacy development include synthetic unit record files (SURFs), confidentialized unit record files (CURFs), postgraduate student work placements, funding for the CensusAtSchool project, a National Certificate of Official Statistics for public sector staff, and an honours/masters paper in official statistics. Almost all the educational initiatives implemented so far have been developed collaboratively with educational institutions through a network of academics in official statistics (NAOS) established in 2006. Members have been involved in the design, implementation, delivery and assessment of courses for qualification as well as presenting short (one- or two-day) courses for government employees on topics such as ethics and legislation, interpreting opinion polls and demography. A particular focus of this paper is the postgraduate course in Official Statistics introduced in 2011. This used advanced video-conferencing with teach- ing staff and students at five New Zealand universities. The course has been beneficial for Statistics New Zealand, universities and students. Feedback from students is also reported.

The results of a survey on the use of statistics in research in five subject areas representative... more The results of a survey on the use of statistics in research in five subject areas representative of the biological and health sciences are reported. The main component of the survey is a review of statistical methods in 2927 research papers published during 1999 in 16 high impact journals from botany, ecology, food science, marine science and nutrition. A factor analysis establishes that research papers in the different subject areas use different methods. The opinions of research staff and postgraduate students working in these areas are also reported. To support these opinions we provide details of five postgraduate studies involving advanced statistical analyses, which have either resulted in publication or should result in publication in the near future. Discussion develops recommendations about topics important in a statistics curriculum for research students, where statistics courses should be taught, what is needed in terms of level of theory, the use of short courses and workshops, and the value of project work.

Data arise in most areas of research and analysis of such data invariably involves advanced stati... more Data arise in most areas of research and analysis of such data invariably involves advanced statistical procedures extending far beyond what is taught in an introductory course on statistical methods. The researchers, who are frequently postgraduate students in subjects ranging from agriculture, biology, ecology, chemistry to the social sciences, health and psychology, have limited mathematical background which restricts methods that can be used in the presentation of topics. The goal is to produce researchers who understand concepts and are able to carry out data analyses confidently in future with limited guidance from a statistician. Several approaches to the problem of providing appropriate training in advanced statistical methods are discussed and student evaluations of the approaches are reported. The discussion features topic content, assessment, the method of teaching, the importance of context for different groups of researchers, the use of appropriate software and the timing of the teaching in a research programme which involves experimental or field work and data collection.

About 800 students each year enrol in a subject Introduction to Biostatistics at the University o... more About 800 students each year enrol in a subject Introduction to Biostatistics at the University of Otago. It is a compulsory subject for students applying to enter the health sciences professional courses. At school there are two subjects, mathematics with calculus and mathematics with statistics, with many students studying only one of these the year before university. There is debate about which one best prepares students for gaining the high marks in biostatistics necessary for entry to the competitive professional health sciences programmes. The school syllabus in mathematics with statistics is first compared with that in Introduction to Biostatistics. Results from the analysis of marks achieved in biostatistics are reported. The fitted regression models show prior knowledge of statistics from the school subject has no effect on performance in biostatistics, that there is no gender effect and that prior knowledge of calculus may be beneficial. Reasons for these results are discussed and proposals made to improve the presentation of statistics to students of the health and biological sciences.

Springer eBooks, 2014

In both Australia and New Zealand, the National Statistics Offices have developed strong partners... more In both Australia and New Zealand, the National Statistics Offices have developed strong partnerships with academics to raise statistical capability. Both offices recognise the importance of good methodology to underpin official statistics. However, the main target group for Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) has been external users of official statistics, but that for the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has been its own statistical methodologists (producers) and advancing research. This chapter outlines sets of initiatives from both agencies. SNZ has actively focussed on raising the statistical capability of key groups of users, including schools, small businesses, government, the media and Maori. It has established a network of academics in official statistics whose members are involved in the design, implementation, delivery and assessment of courses for qualification as well as presenting short (1- or 2-day) courses. The ABS places strong emphasis on the recruitment, training and grooming of young methodologists to become leaders in their chosen field of research, and their focus is on collaboration with the university sector and academics to help with this and to foster ABS research. Other initiatives undertaken in both organisations are also briefly mentioned, including the Census AtSchool project.

Training in statistics at university should be informed at least in part by what graduates will h... more Training in statistics at university should be informed at least in part by what graduates will have to do with acquired statistical knowledge after graduation. A sample of 977 employed graduates with PhD and Masters degrees in seven specialties with statistics prerequisites at university identifies which of 46 statistics based techniques (the items) they use in their work. A two parameter item response model uses 32 of the 46 items to build a scale measuring the extent of statistics use in the workplace and creates a value for each graduate which is used to summarize differences between the use of statistics in the seven specialties. Implications for syllabus construction to better prepare graduates for the workplace are discussed.

Technology Innovations in Statistics Education, 2012

A website and software products with the potential to raise the profile of statistics in society ... more A website and software products with the potential to raise the profile of statistics in society are described. The website has links to case study videos describing contexts, study designs, data files and lessons using new software for data exploration and analysis. Case study videos dealing with current research applying statistics have been selected to motivate discussion in class, and further "hands on" learning can be achieved through use of the software. During the development phase in New Zealand in 2010 the software was trialed and student and teacher experiences are reported. A full day professional development workshop for teachers involving lessons using the software was recorded and these are on the website to assist teachers and students commencing use of the software. The software is free for use by teachers and students in schools, in universities and in homes. The procedure for obtaining a license is outlined.

2 "BootStrAPPing" StudentS' underStAnding oF StAtiStiCAl inFerenCe introduction this report summa... more 2 "BootStrAPPing" StudentS' underStAnding oF StAtiStiCAl inFerenCe introduction this report summarises the research activities and findings from the tlri-funded project conducted in year 13, introductory university and workplace classes, entitled "'Bootstrapping' Statistical inferential reasoning". the project was a 2-year collaboration among three statisticians, two researchers, 16 year 13 teachers, seven university lecturers, one workplace practitioner, three teacher professional development facilitators, and one quality assurance advisor. the project team designed innovative computer-based approaches to develop students' inferential reasoning and sought evidence that these innovations were effective in developing students' understanding of statistical inference. Key findings the bootstrapping and randomisation methods using dynamic visualisations especially designed to enhance • conceptual understanding have the potential to transform the learning of statistical inference.

Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition, Dec 23, 2016

Environmental Education Research, Jul 29, 2013

We report the development and piloting of an evaluative instrument and process for monitoring the... more We report the development and piloting of an evaluative instrument and process for monitoring the environmental literacy (EL) of undergraduate students in one large researchled university in New Zealand. The instrument addresses knowledge, affect and competencies in the general area of environmental literacy in line with this institution's adoption of EL as a graduate attribute (or in a USA context, a general-education learning outcome, and something to be fostered throughout a student's education). The instrument and associated processes were designed to fit within conventional institutional mechanisms that manage student feedback on the quality of teaching. The instrument was tested with more than 600 students from more than 8 programmes over the course of a year and its use stressed that students were anonymous within the survey. We conclude that evaluating (or in a USA context, assessing) the extent to which students acquire environmental literacy is an achievable objective and is a reasonable expectation for any higher education institution that claims to foster this attribute. 2 Article for peer review Is the environmental literacy of university students measurable?