Thursday 13th November 2025 – 1-2pm

Dr Karishma Patel, Aston Business School

Feelings of anxiety around statistics are common, particularly among first-year students entering programmes that include quantitative content but who haven't studied statistics recently (or ever!). Many arrive worried they’ll be at a disadvantage, and this anxiety can quickly impact their engagement and confidence.

In this presentation, I’ll reflect on a range of strategies I’ve implemented in a first-year Statistics module taught to economics students, designed to support students and build their confidence in a low-pressure environment. What I'll share is partly informed by my ongoing work examining how first-year economics students' previous experience with mathematics relates to both their performance and their confidence throughout their studies. 

Although my experience comes from teaching economics students, the approaches discussed will be relevant to anyone working with mixed-ability cohorts in stats-heavy subjects, particularly in the first year of university study. This session aims to share ideas, reflect on what works (and doesn't!), and invite discussion around reducing statistics anxiety and supporting learning in practical ways.

A copy of the webinar slides will be available here after the event.

Wednesday 29th October 2025 - 12-1pm

Professor Mike Campbell, Emeritus Professor of Medical Statistics, University of Sheffield

It is 35 years since the first edition of ‘Medical Statistics: A Commonsense Approach’ was published. It must have done reasonably well since it is now on its fifth edition (with a change in title and an extra author). The publisher has asked us to revise it with a 6th edition, and this talk presents an opportunity to reflect on the nature of medical statistics textbooks. Are they needed, since AI will write one for you in minutes? What topics should they include? Should they include computer code? How much detail should they include? Do the examples have to be up-to-date, and will an example, even a good one, but that was written before the reader was born, be off putting?

A copy of the webinar slides are available here.

Friday 14th March 2025 - 12-1pm

Dr Neil Cook, Lecturer in Research Methods-Online Learning at the School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Central Lancashire

Worried. Confused. Frustrated. How often do we hear students using words like these to describe their experience when trying to understand research methods, statistics, or critical appraisal?  How can we help students to overcome these feelings and encourage them to engage and excel? 

In attempts to improve my own teaching, I have tried a wide range of ideas including (but not limited to!) digital escape rooms, flipped approaches and peer learning which I will describe and reflect on in this presentation. I will also discuss online vs face-to-face and synchronous vs asynchronous delivery, as well as consider real student feedback.

This presentation will be relevant to teachers of undergraduate and postgraduate medical and dental statistics and research methods/critical appraisal. It isn’t about giving you an answer; it is about reflecting on approaches to enliven teaching and encourage our students. There will be plenty of opportunity for discussion and sharing of opinions and experiences is highly encouraged!

A copy of the webinar slides are available here.

Monday 10th February 2025 - 1-2pm

Professor Richard D Riley, Professor of Biostatistics & NIHR Senior Investigator at the Institute of Applied Health Research, University of Birmingham

It is well-known that the quality of statistical methods in medical research is often sub-standard [1]. As a Statistics Editor for The BMJ, I regularly review submissions that have serious issues, for example, in their handling of missing data, modelling of continuous variables, choice of analysis methods, and completeness of reporting [2]. But how do we address this? Education, Education, Education!  In this talk, I highlight the importance of educating others about the importance of methodology and the need for collaboration with (medical) statisticians from the outset. I reflect on a decade of delivering wide-ranging education, including teaching UG maths students a final-year Medical Statistics module; delivering CPD courses on methodology for statisticians, research fellows and clinical academics; and the dissemination of good practice via websites and BMJ Research Methods & Reporting articles. I discuss the pros and cons, alongside the challenges and the rewards, and encourage others to be pro-active in educating the medical research community to prioritise methodology over metrics [3].

1. Altman DG. The scandal of poor medical research. BMJ. 1994;308(6924):283-4.

2. Riley RD, Cole TJ, Deeks J, Kirkham JJ, Morris J, Perera R, et al. On the 12th Day of Christmas, a Statistician Sent to Me. BMJ. 2022;379:e072883.

3. Van Calster B, Wynants L, Riley RD, van Smeden M, Collins GS. Methodology over metrics: current scientific standards are a disservice to patients and society. J Clin Epidemiol. 2021;138:219-26. 

A copy of the webinar slides are available here.

Thursday 16th January 2025 - 12-1pm

Professor Rachel Hilliam, The Open University

A stage two statistics module at the Open University is studied by around 700 students each year from a range of different qualifications. The module team has been exploring a variety of ways to address the different needs of students dependent on their chosen qualification. Over recent years we have developed qualification-based tutorial support where tutorials were the material is flexed according to the qualification group and may concentrate on specific skills for that group. This led to an increase in interaction in these tutorials as student felt more able to express their misunderstanding when surrounded by their qualification peers. 

The experience with the tutorials prompted us to consider statistical anxiety more broadly and how this might affect our students. Unfortunately, current statistics anxiety measures and tools focus on traditional face-to-face learning environments. This talk will outline our development of a self-reflection tool for recognising statistical anxiety in online and distance learning students and how we have used this tool to help students identify areas where they can increase their confidence in learning statistics. 

A copy of the webinar slides are available here.

Wednesday 30th October 2024 - 12-1pm

Professor Mona Kanaan, University of York

The Royal Statistical Society (RSS) commissioned its Medical Section to develop a survey to ascertain the extent and nature of obstacles to professional satisfaction and career progression, following evidence at meetings of medical statisticians that there was some confusion and frustration in these areas. The online survey was run in early-2019: members of the RSS with interests in medicine, and other loosely defined ‘medical statisticians’ working in public institutions, were invited to participate. We will present key findings from this survey, reflecting a wide range of perceptions held by participants about their professional position. Most of the 335 respondents were based in UK (87%), 74% were working in academia, and 15% in the NHS. Median working experience was 10 years. Participants’ recent experience of access to conference attendance, perceived professional recognition, obstacles to career development and progression will be presented. Considering personal futures as an indicator of the future of the profession, respondents’ widely varying advice to their peers in ‘finding a way through’ the obstacles will be discussed. Some insights are also shared from a related survey conducted in 2024.

A copy of the webinar slides are available here.

Wednesday 19th June 2024 - 12:30-1:30pm

Professor Rhys C Jones

This session explores the intersection of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) and professional development for educators in the field of statistics. The presentation focuses on the impact of engaging in research and reflective practices related to statistics education on Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and career advancement. Drawing on established SoTL frameworks, the session addresses how educators can leverage their contributions to teaching and learning to enhance their pedagogical skills, contribute to the scholarship in their discipline, and support their promotion opportunities. The session will cover examples that specifically address the development of activities (such as small scale pedagogic based projects, areas of innovative practice identified through peer review, innovative course design) that can lead to the development of meaningful and relevant research questions, study design, and methods for conducting meaningful SoTL research in statistics education. 

By offering insights into the symbiotic relationship between SoTL engagement and career progression, this session aims to inspire and guide educators in their pursuit of excellence in teaching statistics. Practical tips and advice will be given, drawn from my own experience of sitting on senior promotion panels as an associate dean for education in my previous roles, with additional significant experience of reviewing external applications for promotion all at levels (i.e. appointed as an external reviewer for professorial level appointments at other institutes across the globe etc), as well as chairing and sitting on numerous grant panels for funding for SoTL related pedagogical activities.

A copy of the webinar slides are available here.

Tuesday 14th May 2024 - 12-1pm

Dr AFM Saiful Islam, University College London (UCL)

While ChatGPT can be a valuable tool for assisting learning and providing supplementary information, it's important to exercise caution when considering its use in high-stakes assessments like exams. In an educational setting, the focus should be on fostering genuine understanding, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills, which might not be adequately assessed through unsupervised multiple-choice question (MCQ) exams which we adopted in the past. Even when attempting to rewrite MCQ questions with new scenarios, it has been found that, in most cases, AI can pick the correct MCQ answers from reading those scenarios. While including images was a good option in the past, as ChatGPT was unable to identify them in its basic application, it now seems that images are also easily recognizable. We are also experiencing a situation where the exam cannot be conducted under locked/supervised conditions. Thus, in an unsupervised setting, there's a risk that test-takers could misuse ChatGPT to obtain answers without genuine effort or understanding. How can we overcome this challenge?

A copy of the webinar slides are available here.