Computing in Statistical Education Pang Du Department of Statistics Virginia Tech

My Limited Teaching Experience An introductory probability course for undergraduates An introductory probability course for undergraduates - small class, all from management majors - no computing required A one-year introductory statistics course for non- statistics major graduate students A one-year introductory statistics course for non- statistics major graduate students - big class, wide varieties of majors - computing is a critical part

Statistical Computing in Practice Statistical software only (80%) Statistical software only (80%) Statistical software + programming languages (20%) Statistical software + programming languages (20%) Programming languages only (~0%) Programming languages only (~0%)

Statistical Software SAS SAS - most powerful, standard in many disciplines and industries - expensive, overwhelmingly detailed help file, not good at graphics, not good at programming R - free, powerful with contributed packages, convenient for programming (similar to MatLab), fairly good graphics - horrible help search SPSS SPSS - standard in some fields, user friendly interface, interactively controllable graphs - cheaper than SAS, relatively simple statistical procedures only

Teaching Statistics with Computing Teach only statistical methods but not computing Teach only statistical methods but not computing - students free at choosing software - high-level statistics graduate courses Teach statistical software from scratch Teach statistical software from scratch - basic syntax, basic functions/procedures, statistical procedures - statistical computing courses Teach certain software but only specific statistical procedures Teach certain software but only specific statistical procedures - templates of the procedures given - courses focusing on classical statistical procedures

My Class Widely different computing experience Widely different computing experience - “20+ years of programming” - “freak out whenever programming is mentioned” SAS required SAS required - “too expensive”, “hate SAS with a passion” - Answer: “sorry, but it is the standard for some of you”

My Class Going over SAS examples in class Going over SAS examples in class - “too easy, not worthy of class time” - “could you go over the troubleshooting again?” Templates and detailed interpretations provided for all the statistical procedures covered Templates and detailed interpretations provided for all the statistical procedures covered - Unanimously “very helpful”

Summary of Challenges Increasing demands but limited resources Increasing demands but limited resources - expensive software limits number of licenses - increasing number of audiences versus limited facilities and staff Diversities - different levels of computing experience - software with different features Mixing statistical theory and methods with statistical computing Mixing statistical theory and methods with statistical computing