Many of you who knew me or took my class in the past may not be aware, but last year I was able to bring back the Advanced Placement Statistics class at Bell. Most of you should know I'm a math geek and a college math major. We had 14 students who finished the course last year, 12 took the AP exam, and 11 made 2's or higher on the test, so all in all a good start. I'm not sure of my enrollment this year; I was hoping to get two sections but didn't.
Anyway, much as it pains me to say so, I found an interesting article about statistics in the New York Times, of all places (see, I don't just read conservative sources). Among my favorite quotes:
“I keep saying that the sexy job in the next 10 years will be statisticians,” said Hal Varian, chief economist at Google. “And I’m not kidding.”
"The new breed of statisticians . . . use powerful computers and sophisticated mathematical models to hunt for meaningful patterns and insights in vast troves of data." In the old days, we learned how to compute statistics. I'm intrigued that statistics nowadays is about interpretation and understanding - I think its a huge improvement in the discipline.
And for the material-minded: "The rising stature of statisticians, who can earn $125,000 at top companies in their first year after getting a doctorate . . . ." Not too shabby.
I think one of the things that unites the two somewhat dissimilar classes I teach is that they are both among the more practical and useful courses we require students to take in high school. You need many of the basic mathematical skills taught in the other math courses, but I guarantee you that familiarity with statistical lingo and methods will be useful. If you're still at Bell, think about taking the course. If you're in college, it's a smart elective to take. I'm not saying it's an easy course, but it's one that will pay off for you.
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Impeach President Trump, again
3 years ago
How many got three or better?! And who was the one who got a 1? I'm betting Cameron =]
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ReplyDeleteWhat do statisticians use as a contraceptive?
Their career.
You nailed it at the beginning of the last paragraph with the reference to the practicability aspects of the class(es) you teach.
ReplyDeleteMost high school grads I have encountered (perhaps I'm just encountering the wrong type) have difficulty balancing a check book or understanding the concept of cash flow. Yet the protest the mightiest when it comes to backing this or that governmental program. Which it turn leads me to have less and less faith in our modern concepts of democracy. But I digress...
I think there is an enormous untapped potential in pattern recognition of data gathered on a global level so high in volume computers are essential to mining, or combing through, the data in search of useful information.
Pattern recognition is an essential part to human intelligence.
And, lately, I've developed a much greater appreciation to the use, application of, and understanding for numbers and mathematics.
All Heil Newton; for it was his alter I could not sacrifice upon that helped steer me out of the business school and into the liberal arts school.
Nate Silver is actually a great example of the idea that statisticians will be the new sexy job soon, and also of how the discipline is particularly relevant these days. I am really looking forward to taking statistics (I decided on that since it seems like it would be relevant to my sociology major).
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