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Accurately understanding and interpreting big data can win a presidential election.  Gilad Wilkenfeld brings his Political Science statistics students into computer labs to teach them how to apply statistics concepts to the same software tools that professional political scientists use.  Wilkenfeld is a Political Science PhD candidate here at CU.  He holds Political Science 3105 Designing Social Inquiry class sessions in computer labs so that students can use use a professional statistics software program, .  Students use Stata to code data and create interpretive graphics.  This type of information is becoming increasingly valuable and relevant in today’s political campaigns and in the private sector.

Since many students pursue the social sciences because of their strengths in reading and writing, they may enter their required statistics classes with dread, only there to complete their major requirement.  However, Wilkenfeld says the class provides a real world opportunity to apply math concepts.  He challenges students to understand implications of their results: "In statistics you have to explain what the answer means,"—e.g. how a regression coefficient may indicate likelihood of voter behavior in certain circumstances.

Once students become proficient at the math behind the statistics, Wilkenfeld brings them into the computer labs for classes.  He says that when students type in code along with him on Stata, they understand the processes better than if they tried to follow along previously worked out problems on a PowerPoint.  Students who are stronger in the social sciences may prefer to lean on the Stata software to do their math, but Wilkenfeld warns, “Software doesn’t make you smart.  It’s more important that you know the statistics behind the program,” and that Stata offers a valuable “Platform to exercise those skills.”

Wilkenfeld’s strategy of putting students in front of computers to learn the proper statistics software earned him their nominations for a 2013 ASSETT Teaching with Technology Award.  One student wrote in Wilkenfeld's nomination:

I am a Political Science major, and I am usually skeptical of my ability to perform academically with a computer or difficult math, but Gilad [Wilkenfeld] was able to create a classroom that opened the door to Political Science with statistical analysis for me. [Capitalization added]

One student also wrote that Wilkenfeld went out of his way to make himself available to students to support them in their studies: "I had no trouble accessing Gilad [Wilkenfeld] for questions online, and he often aided students where it was outside his responsibility to do so."  Additionally, one student expressed appreciation for Wilkenfeld’s quick adaptation to last year’s campus-wide challenges with D2L by transitioning to Google Drive instead.

Big Opportunities in Big Data

Wilkenfeld says that understanding how to use statistics information effectively is becoming increasingly important in the professional Political Science field: “Political statistics is the language we’re using now in the political science journals.”  This metadata—the process of understanding and using Big Data (lots of information)--is a crucial skill across today’s workplace.  For example, Wilkenfeld points out that many technical staffers from the successful 2008 and 2012 Barack Obama presidential campaigns continued on to promising careers in the private sector. ()  Companies increasingly value such understanding of statistics to properly predict customers’ purchasing behavior.

Wilkenfeld says, “I like teaching, and I especially like teaching statistics.  It’s a fun, challenging class.”  He says that because of the difficulty of the statistics courses, he can see the great extent to how much students learn over the course of a semester.  Wilkenfeld says he felt encouraged when he learned that students formed study groups and met in the computer labs after class to practice using Stata.  He says he finds it most fulfilling when students stay in touch with him long after they complete the class: “It’s nice when you can see that students really took something away--when I see students use these tools in their honors theses and come back to me later.”