1. Skinning the statistical cat: Facebook as a tool for maths and stats support. Mark Feltham @markfeltham666 Liverpool John Moores University 20th June #LJMUstats @sigmahubsHEdW rks

2. The challenge... Fundamentals of Science (Year long) Core Module (350 students) across 6 programmes Large amount of statistics (SPSS: descriptives, t- test, Mann-Whitney, paired t-test, Wilcoxon signed rank test, Pearson, Spearman rank) 9 oclock Monday morning Range of learning styles How can we make stats more engaging??? 3. SO, how did the module run? Didactic - Traditional - Lectures, workshops, Blackboard, email, phased individual assessment OR, Creative - Creative Projects, NO LECTURES, Social Media, Group or Individual assessment 4. Stats Guides: printed / interactive 5. Stats Guides: Video Guide 6. Data Collection: observational / data logging 7. Data Collection: DIY experiments The output Result 8. Data Collection: Ornithopters 9. Data Collection: Rube Goldberg Machines 10. #statsexpo #doingstatisticsdifferently 11. 10 reasons for using social media in maths and stats support HEdW rks 12. 1. Everything is in one familiar place 99% students are already on it Students do not need to learn the quirks of a new platform Avoids the clunkiness of VLEs 13. 2. Its quick and easy to use No separate login Uploading is easy Posting is easier still and instantaneous Mobile version is good 14. 3. Promotes engagement with numerical reasoning & problem solving Breaks down barriers Builds rapport and helps reduce anxiety over maths and SPSS Sense of community to enable students to ask for help 15. 4. Giving support is Quick Easy and you can be as creative as you like So its fun! 16. 5. It can cater for a variety of different learning styles Its student centric Students can demonstrate their learning in any way they wish AND ask for help in anyway they wish. 17. Student uploads (n=1300) DOC PDF RTF ODT PUB XLS CRT JPG PPT PNG BMP WMV AVI MPG 72% OWN images 18. Uploads, posts and comments 19. Video Posts 20. 6. It promotes a more relaxed approach to learning statistics (fear) 21. The mean ( SE) time of the paper-copters with 12.6cm and 9cm wings to land on the ground was 3.362 0.062 and 2.633 0.044 respectively There was a significant difference in the mean time taken (seconds) of 12.6cm wings and 9cm wings of paper-copters (T9.56=18, p