Preparing Graduate Students to Teach Statistics: Introduction

摘要

Preparing graduate students to teach, first for assignment as teaching assistants but also because some will follow academic careers, is a major concern for mathematics and statistics departments. This article provides background and raises issues to keep in mind when reading the program descriptions in the articles that follow. Changing our understanding of what constitutes effective pedagogy, improving the use of technology, and placing an emphasis on working with data in elementary courses raise the standard that teaching assistants must meet. Many graduate students come from countries with cultures and education systems quite different from those in the United States. Training programs should themselves be models of good pedagogy.