Teaching Students to Read COVID-19 Journal Articles in Statistics Courses

Figures & data

Table 1 Examples of articles chosen in regression and time series analysis.

Courses	Chosen articles	Statistical concepts
Regression	“What Explains Differences in Finance Research Productivity During the Pandemic?” The Journal of Finance, 2021 (Barber et al. 2021).	Descriptive statistics, Regression
Time series analysis	“Forecasting the Spread of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Saudi Arabia Using ARIMA Prediction Model Under Current Public Health Interventions.” Journal of Infection and Public Health, 2020 (Alzahrani, Aljamaan, and Al-Fakih 2020).	Time series, ARMA

Table 2 The teaching objectives and Bloom’s Taxonomy.

Learning Stages	Teaching objectives	Bloom’s Taxonomy
1	Can recall, identify, and extract the statistical concepts in the articles	Remembering
2	Can understand how to apply statistical methods to test the articles’ hypotheses	Understanding
3	Can communicate what they have learned in the article with peers	Applying
4	Can analyze the results obtained from the figures and tables	Analyzing
5	Can figure out how the data and the experimental design support the conclusions	Evaluating
6	Can discuss what else can be found in the research and develop ideas for future work	Creating

Table 3 The procedure in the three lessons.

Lessons	Procedure	Bloom’s Taxonomy	Time
1	Discuss one point of the article in the small group	Remembering and Understanding	15 min
	Discuss the article in the group	Understanding	30 min
2	Make a PowerPoint presentation to answer questions	Application	25 min
	Do a presentation to communicate with peers	Analysis	20 min
3	Receive the marks from peers and teachers	Evaluation	15 min
	Point out some questions about the article and try to figure out means to solve	Creation	30 min

Table 4 Groups, reading tasks, and assigned questions.

Courses	Regression	Time Series Analysis
Articles	“What Explains Differences in Finance Research Productivity During the Pandemic?” The Journal of Finance, 2021 (Barber et al. 2021).	“Forecasting the Spread of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Saudi Arabia Using ARIMA Prediction Model Under Current Public Health Interventions.” Journal of Infection and Public Health, 2020 (Alzahrani, Aljamaan, and Al-Fakih 2020).
Group 1	I Data and Summary Statistics A. Survey Overview pg.9	Abstract p. 914
Group 2	I Data and Summary Statistics B. Descriptive Statistics pg.10	Introduction p. 914
Group 3	I Data and Summary Statistics C. Family Structure by Gender and Rank p. 16	Model description p. 915
Group 4	II Empirical Results A. Allocation of Time p. 18	Parameters estimation p. 915
Group 5	II Empirical Results B. Research Productivity p. 23	Model performance measure p. 915
Group 6	II Empirical Results C. Intensity of Mechanisms that Affected Research Productivity p. 28	Data description p. 916
Group 7	II Empirical Results D. Marginal and Expected Impact of Mechanisms that Affect Research Productivity across Professional Ranks p. 31	Result p. 916
Group 8	III Institutional Variation and Responses A. Institutional Financial Strength p. 36	Discussion 1st–3rd paragraph pp. 916–917
Group 9	III Institutional Variation and Responses B. Clock Extensions p. 39	Discussion 4th–5th paragraph pp. 917–918
Group 10	IV Conclusions p. 41	Conclusion p. 918
Assigned questions	1. What is “research productivity” in this paper? 2. How to measure “research productivity”? 3. What does “difference” mean in the title? 3. What is the data? 4. What is the sampling method used? 5. What are the survey’s goals? How to achieve the goals in the article? 6. What are the “demographics”? 7. What is the statistical method used to obtain the results? 8. What are the factors of time allocation? 9. What are the factors for production mechanisms? 10. What are the factors for institutional factors? 11. Please put forward more questions for class discussion.	1. Why does the paper choose the model with d = 1? 2. What is the expression of ARIMA(2,1,1)? 3. Why does the author use the models’ performance measures? 4. What does each paragraph mean in the part of the Discussion? 5. Which model is the best fit found out by the authors? Do you think it is the best model or not? If not, what other models do you think need to consider? 6. Please put forward more questions for class discussion.

Fig. 1 Frequencies of issues at the beginning and the end of the three lessons.

Fig. 2 Frequencies of the number of questions put forward by students at the beginning and the end of the three lessons.

Table 5 The instructions and the percentage we took in the assessment process.

Parts	Assessment	Percentage
The first part	Student his/her own estimated mark I can recall, identify, and extract the statistical concepts in the articles. I can understand how to apply statistical methods to test the articles’ hypotheses. I can communicate what they have learned in the article with peers. I can analyze the results obtained from the figures and tables. I can figure out how the data and the experimental design support the conclusions. I can discuss what else can be found in the research and develop ideas for future work.	10%
	The mean of the marks given by the other members of the same team The partner can recall, identify, and extract the statistical concepts in the articles. The partner can understand how to apply statistical methods to test the articles’ hypotheses. The partner can communicate what they have learned in the article with me.	20%
	Teacher’s mark The student in the group can analyze the results obtained from the figures and tables. The student in the group can figure out how the data and the experimental design support the conclusions. The student in the group can discuss what else can be found in the research and develop ideas for future work.	30%
The second part	Mark according to the vote results Statistical concepts in the articles have been found. Statistical methods applied to test the articles’ hypotheses have been illustrated. Results obtained from the figures and tables have been analyzed. How the data and the experimental design support the conclusions have been figured out. What else can be found in the research and develop ideas for future work have been discussed.	40%

Barber, B. M., Jiang, W., Morse, A., Puri, M., Tookes, H., and Werner, I. M. (2021), “What Explains Differences in Finance Research Productivity during the Pandemic?” The Journal of Finance, 76, 1655–1697. DOI: 10.1111/jofi.13028.

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Alzahrani, S. I., Aljamaan, I. A., and Al-Fakih, E. A. (2020), “Forecasting the Spread of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Saudi Arabia Using ARIMA Prediction Model under Current Public Health Interventions,” Journal of Infection and Public Health, 13, 914–919. DOI: 10.1016/j.jiph.2020.06.001.

 PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Data Availability Statement

The data and the code in this article are available at https://github.com/zjwzajyl/teaching.