Helping students prepare for their future working lives

Abstract

Good course design, informed by research in statistical education and external influences should include some employability skills, whilst maintaining academic standards. At one UK university, the statistics programme was devised to include development of both transferable and subject specific skills that help to prepare students for their future working lives. Students have opportunities to gain both oral and written presentational skills in addition to developing their statistical reasoning and thinking skills. A final year project enables students to work independently on an area of statistics which is of particular interest to them. Some have sourced such projects from their placement year (or part-time jobs), providing an excellent opportunity for them to apply their statistical knowledge to real life applications, whilst needing to present their results in a form that is acceptable to the workplace.