Master’s Notebook
A Learning Opportunity for Statisticians
JsM Continuing Education courses provide spectrum of
secondary learning
Amarjot Kaur, AsA Committee on Applied statisticians
L
eonardo da Vinci once said “Learning never In addition to attending conferences, there are
exhausts the mind.” It is from that perspec- other venues where statisticians can reap the ben-
tive that initiatives in continuing education efits of continuing education. Many ASA chapters
seem to be so relevant to the statistical world. are active in sponsoring full-day symposia or short
Continuing education represents a spectrum of sec- courses on current topics. Also, several ASA sec-
ondary learning. It is an important facility that tions sponsor webinars delivered by subject-matter
helps professionals keep up with the dynamic world, experts. These activities usually involve a fee, but the
where change never stops and learning never ends. fees are nominal. Furthermore, many software ven-
The Joint Statistical Meetings offers a variety dors offer informative webinars for free.
of Continuing Education courses and Computer The form and objective of learning may vary,
Technology Workshops. These courses and work- but there are many excellent avenues through which
shops benefit statisticians by updating their knowl- statisticians can enrich their knowledge. Try some
edge of existing techniques or helping them learn out for yourself. Visit the JSM online program at
an entirely new technique. Speaking from experi-
www.amstat.org/meetings/jsm/2009/onlineprogram to
ence, I have learned a great deal from the variety view the scheduled Continuing Education courses
of courses I have attended during JSM over the and Computer Technology Workshops. n
years. For example, my first exposure to data-min-
ing techniques, such as decision trees, was during
a Continuing Education course several years ago.
What I learned was something useful that I could
contribute to my workplace.
Glancing through the list of JSM offerings from
the last five years, there seems to have been plenty
from which to choose. At each of the recent meet-
ings, there were approximately 30 Continuing
Education courses and about 10 Computer
Technology Workshops with applications in areas
such as survival analysis, multivariate analysis, mod-
eling, longitudinal analysis, Bayesian methodologies,
data-mining techniques, spatial statistics, graphical
displays, genetic sampling, adaptive designs, time
series, survey sampling, and specific software orien-
tation. The courses are offered in two-day, one-day,
and half-day formats during the first four days of
JSM, and the computer workshops are offered in
two-hour intervals on the fifth day.
There are other conferences that provide short
courses and workshops, as well. These are great
opportunities for master’s-level statisticians.
Attending a course while at a conference or attend-
ing a conference while at a course is like “killing two
birds with one stone,” as it is more economical than
attending the two events separately.
JUNE 2009 AmstAt News 41
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