Findings from a Survey of Statistics and Biostatistics Instructors in the Health Sciences Who Teach Using an Online or Flipped Format

Figures & data

Table 1. Descriptive statistics for the responding (bio)statistics instructors in the health sciences (n = 24) regarding their teaching experience, compared to other majors (n = 21).

	Health Sciences majors (n = 24)	Other majors (n = 21)
	Mean (SD) or n (%)	Mean (SD) or n (%)
Years of experience teaching (bio)statistics (using any format), including the 2016–2017 academic year	11.3 (9.1)	14.5 (9.8)
Total years teaching using an online or flipped format, including the 2016–2017 academic year	4.9 (3.2)	4.2 (3.5)
Instructors teaching at least 1 (bio)statistics course in the 2016–2017 academic year that would be best described as^*: Traditional Flipped with in-class component Completely online Partially online and partially in-class	12 (50.0%) 10 (41.7%) 15 (62.5%) 3 (12.5%)	13 (61.9%) 13 (61.9%) 11 (52.4%) 5 (23.8%)
Instructors teaching at least 1 online or flipped course in the 2016–2017 academic year to^*: High school students Undergraduate students Graduate students	0 (0.0%)9 (37.5%)18 (75.0%)	0.0 (0.0%)16 (76.2%)6 (28.6%)
Instructors teaching at least 1 online or flipped course in the 2016–2017 academic year to students^*: Majoring in (Bio)statistics Minoring in (Bio)statistics Majoring in Health Sciences (such as in a School of Public Health) Majoring in other programs	2 (8.3%) 0 (0.0%) 24 (100.0%) 4 (16.7%)	4 (19.1%) 0 (0.0%) 3 (14.3%) 16 (76.2%)
Instructors teaching at least 1 online or flipped course in the 2016–2017 academic year in class sizes that would be best described as^*: <20 students 20–49 students 50–99 students ≥100 students	8 (33.3%)14 (58.3%)6 (25.0%)2 (8.3%)	6 (28.6%)16 (76.2%)3 (14.3%)3 (14.3%)
Instructors teaching at least 1 online or flipped course in the 2016–2017 academic year that would be best described as^*: Introductory Statistics Second-Level Statistics Specialty Topic Other	18 (75.0%)8 (33.3%)3 (12.5%)0 (0.0%)	16 (76.2%)3 (14.3%)3 (14.3%)3 (14.3%)

* Respondents could select all that apply.

Table 2. Descriptive statistics for the responding (bio)statistics instructors in the Health Sciences (n = 24) regarding their selected online/flipped course for which their survey responses will focus, compared to other majors (n = 21).

	Health Sciences majors (n = 24)	Other majors (n = 21)
	Mean (SD) or n (%)	Mean (SD) or n (%)
The format of this course is best described as follows:
Completely Online	14 (58.3%)	8 (38.1%)
Flipped with In-Class Component	7 (29.2%)	10 (47.6%)
Partially Online and Partially In-Class	3 (12.5%)	3 (14.3%)
Years using this format for this (bio)statistics course, including the 2016–17 academic year	3.5 (2.2)	3.2 (2.3)
This (bio)statistics class is primarily taken by:
Graduate students	18 (75.0%)	5 (23.8%)
Undergraduate students	5 (20.8%)	16 (76.2%)
Physicians	1 (4.2%)	0 (0.0%)
This (bio)statistics class is primarily taken by:
Majoring in (Bio)statistics	0 (0.0%)	3 (14.3%)
Minoring in (Bio)statistics	0 (0.0%)	1 (4.8%)
Majoring in Health Sciences (such as in a School of Public Health)	24 (100.0%)	0 (0.0%)
Majoring in other programs	0 (0.0%)	17 (81.0%)
This (bio)statistics class size is best described as:
<20 students	7 (29.2%)	4 (19.1%)
20-49 students	11 (45.8%)	10 (47.6%)
50-99 students	4 (16.7%)	3 (14.3%)
$\ge$100 students	2 (8.3%)	4 (19.1%)
This (bio)statistics course is best described as:
Introductory Statistics	19 (79.2%)	15 (71.4%)
Second Level Statistics	3 (12.5%)	3 (14.3%)
Specialty Topic	2 (8.3%)	3 (14.3%)
This (bio)statistics course's meeting schedule is best described as:
Online format (no set meeting schedule)	15 (62.5%)	7 (33.3%)
1 day per week	4 (16.7%)	2 (9.5%)
2 days per week	3 (12.5%)	7 (33.3%)
3 days per week	1 (4.2%)	3 (14.3%)
Other	1 (4.2%)	2 (9.5%)
The duration of each class session for this (bio)statistics course (in minutes), where applicable*	92.0 (43.3)	79.6 (34.0)
Sources of the pre-recordings:
I exclusively use recordings that I created myself	15 (62.5%)	12 (57.1%)
I use recordings that I created myself, as well as those created by others	6 (25.0%)	6 (28.6%)
I only use recordings that were created by others	1 (4.2%)	2 (9.5%)
Other	2 (8.3%)	1 (4.8%)
Sources of the prerecorded lectures created by someone else?**
Other online resources (such as Khan Academy or YouTube)	4 (16.7%)	5 (23.8%)
Previous Instructor of this course/Co-instructor	2 (8.3%)	4 (19.1%)
Textbook publisher	1 (4.2%)	3 (14.3%)
Nature of the prerecorded lectures**
Narration over a screen capture of slides (such as PowerPoint)	19 (79.2%)	17 (81.0%)
Screen capture that included the ability to see your handwriting	9 (37.5%)	12 (57.1%)
A video-recording of the instructor delivering a lecture	3 (12.5%)	7 (33.3%)
Software demonstration	3 (12.5%)	4 (17.4%)
Other	3 (12.5%)	4 (19.1%)
Activities includes during class time**
Data analysis using software	17 (70.8%)	18 (85.7%)
Lectures	17 (70.8%)	13 (61.9%)
Software demonstration	17 (70.8%)	14 (66.7%)
Worksheet/workbook type problems	10 (41.7%)	14 (66.7%)
Small group discussions	10 (41.7%	9 (42.9%)
Hand calculation problems	9 (37.5%)	13 (61.9%)
Group projects	7 (31.8%)	7 (33.3%)
Group presentations	7 (29.2%)	4 (19.1%)
Online quizzes/readiness tests	6 (25.0%)	3 (12.5%)
Experiments (Data generation/collection)	3 (12.5%)	5 (23.8%)
Clicker questions/interactive polls	1 (4.2%)	1 (4.8%)
Other	3 (12.5%)	1 (4.4%)

* If the course was completely online (with no classroom sessions), respondents were instructed to enter zero, and these responses were excluded from this calculation. These means are based on n = 10 and n = 14, respectively, for those teaching health sciences majors and other majors.

** Respondents could select all that apply.

Figure 1. Means for attitudes of (bio)statistics instructors in the health sciences (n = 24) when comparing teaching a flipped or online class versus a traditional format, versus other majors (n = 21). **Ratings on a scale of 1–5, from much worse than a traditional format (1) to about the same as a traditional format (3) to much better than a traditional format (5).

Figure 2. Means for recommendations of (bio)statistics instructors in the health sciences (n = 24) regarding the use of various pedagogical techniques, compared to other majors (n = 21). **Ratings on a scale of 1–5, from would strongly recommend a teaching colleague AGAINST using (1) to would neither recommend for nor against (3) to would strongly recommend a colleague FOR using (5).

Figure 3. Mean of (bio)statistics instructors in the health sciences (n = 23) ratings for importance of factors when choosing recording software, compared to other majors (n = 21). **Ratings on a scale of 1–5, from least important (1) to most important (5).

Listing 1. Selected instructor comments.

· I have mixed feelings about [teaching online]. There are certainly some advantages, mainly allowing flexibility in terms of time and location to deliver and receive content. Yet, I feel it's very impersonal.

· My MPH students performed much better in the partially flipped format than my previous students had done in the traditional lecture format.

· Students like having videos and materials they can do (sic) on their own time.

· The flipped classes don't do so well because [students] rarely review the material before the class time and it ends up where I go over the statistics lectures fast in our 1 hour per session week.

· We assessed the flipped approach and were not able to detect a difference in performance compared to a traditional approach. However, it helped the weakest students and we were able to reduce the failure rate in the course.

· The biggest issue I've had to deal with in teaching online is students who don't have the motivation needed for self-directed learning.

· This has been the most effective innovation to my teaching in all the years I've been teaching.