I just returned from my annual sojourn teaching at the ICPSR's Summer Program in Quantitative Methods. Most of the courses there -- which range in technical difficulty from Introduction to Computing and basic math to Bayesian methods, LISREL, and advanced game theory -- are four-week courses, populated mostly by graduate students from Ph.D. programs in sociology, political science, and other similar fields.
One thing I've always wondered, though, was how the program might attract more individuals who are later in their careers. A tenure-track professor in any discipline can hardly afford to give up a month of their life to learn a statistical technique they may only use for a single project. Yet, it's often exactly such individuals who could most benefit from training of this sort.
The ICPSR has begun moving in this direction in recent years, offering greater numbers of three- and five-day workshops and holding courses outside of Ann Arbor (which is, however pleasant in the summertime, a bit off the beaten path). But they (we) could obviously do more. So I ask: What would you look for in a summer (or winter/spring break) course in methods? What characteristics (pedagogical, logistical, whatever) would make you more likely to enroll in such a course?
I'm agree with the suggestions of both of my colleagues above. I agree with Sarah that taking an online course would be most valuable.
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I agree with the suggestions of both of my colleagues above. I agree with Sarah that taking an online course would be most valuable. With scholarship and teaching demands, Chris, you are correct that it is often difficult to take significant time off to take a course. I would also suggest moving the courses regionally if you don't already--that is, rotate the courses around the country to try and get folks from various regions to attend.
Posted by: David Stras | 08 August 2007 at 09:41 AM
Could ICPSR ever offer online courses? I'd take one!
Posted by: Sara Benesh | 07 August 2007 at 08:30 PM
My three preferences (or, rather, pet peeves) include:
1. Such a mini-course should be extremely narrow and focused topically;
2. Software-program specific (that is, pre-announce whether the course will use Stata, SPSS, SAS, etc.); and
3. Emphasize providing actual code for specific tasks and techniques (that is, more "applied" than theoretical in approach).
Posted by: Michael Heise | 07 August 2007 at 03:02 PM