Accurately understanding and interpreting big data can win a presidential election.聽 Gilad Wilkenfeld brings his Political Science statistics students into computer labs to teach them how to apply statistics concepts to the same software tools that professional political scientists use.聽 Wilkenfeld is a Political Science PhD candidate here at CU. 聽He holds Political Science 3105 Designing Social Inquiry class sessions in computer labs so that students can use use a professional statistics software program, . 聽Students use Stata to code data and create interpretive graphics. 聽This type of information is becoming increasingly valuable and relevant in today鈥檚 political campaigns and in the private sector.
Since many students pursue the social sciences because of their strengths in reading and writing, they may enter their required statistics classes with dread, only there to complete their major requirement.聽 However, Wilkenfeld says the class provides a real world opportunity to apply math concepts. 聽He challenges students to understand implications of their results: "In statistics you have to explain what the answer means,"鈥攅.g. how a regression coefficient may indicate likelihood of voter behavior in certain circumstances.
Once students become proficient at the math behind the statistics, Wilkenfeld brings them into the computer labs for classes.聽 He says that when students type in code along with him on Stata, they understand the processes better than if they tried to follow along previously worked out problems on a PowerPoint.聽 Students who are stronger in the social sciences may prefer to lean on the Stata software to do their math, but Wilkenfeld warns, 鈥淪oftware doesn鈥檛 make you smart. 聽It鈥檚 more important that you know the statistics behind the program,鈥� and that Stata offers a valuable 鈥淧latform to exercise those skills.鈥�
Wilkenfeld鈥檚 strategy of putting students in front of computers to learn the proper statistics software earned him their nominations for a 2013 ASSETT Teaching with Technology Award. 聽One student wrote in Wilkenfeld's nomination:
I am a Political Science major, and I am usually skeptical of my ability to perform academically with a computer or difficult math, but Gilad [Wilkenfeld] was able to create a classroom that opened the door to Political Science with statistical analysis for me. [Capitalization added]
Gilad Wilkenfeld, Political Science PhD Candidate at CU Boulder
One student also wrote that Wilkenfeld went out of his way to make himself available to students to support them in their studies: "I had no trouble accessing Gilad [Wilkenfeld] for questions online, and he often aided students where it was outside his responsibility to do so." 聽Additionally, one student expressed appreciation for Wilkenfeld鈥檚 quick adaptation to last year鈥檚 campus-wide challenges with D2L by transitioning to Google Drive instead.
Big Opportunities in Big Data
Wilkenfeld says that understanding how to use statistics information effectively is becoming increasingly important in the professional Political Science field: 鈥淧olitical statistics is the language we鈥檙e using now in the political science journals.鈥� 聽This metadata鈥攖he process of understanding and using Big Data (lots of information)--is a crucial skill across today鈥檚 workplace.聽 For example, Wilkenfeld points out that many technical staffers from the successful 2008 and 2012 Barack Obama presidential campaigns continued on to promising careers in the private sector. () 聽Companies increasingly value such understanding of statistics to properly predict customers鈥� purchasing behavior.
Wilkenfeld says, 鈥淚 like teaching, and I especially like teaching statistics.聽 It鈥檚 a fun, challenging class.鈥� 聽He says that because of the difficulty of the statistics courses, he can see the great extent to how much students learn over the course of a semester. 聽Wilkenfeld says he felt encouraged when he learned that students formed study groups and met in the computer labs after class to practice using Stata.聽 He says he finds it most fulfilling when students stay in touch with him long after they complete the class: 鈥淚t鈥檚 nice when you can see that students really took something away--when I see students use these tools in their honors theses and come back to me later.鈥�
