PIDE holds training workshop for teachers of statistics

Islamabad

Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) has arranged a five-day training workshop for the teachers of statistic titled ‘How to teach Elementary Descriptive Statistics: an HEC Workshop for Teachers of Statistics’ at its campus, says a press release.

The workshop was based on pedagogical material written by Dr. Asad Zaman, vice chancellor, PIDE. The workshop was arranged in collaboration with Higher Education Commission of Pakistan.

Dr. Asad Zaman is renowned statistician who has taught in the top ranked universities of the world, including MIT, Pennsylvania University, Colombia University, John Hopkins and Bilkent University. Dr. Asad Zaman has developed this course over the period of a decade of his teaching at International Islamic University, Islamabad and PIDE.

Addressing to the closing ceremony, Dr. Asad Zaman said that existing methods of teaching statistics is seriously deficient in that, it makes very little use of latest technology and the pedagogy of statistics was developed in pre-computer era. There is a need to make extensive use of technology in teaching and practice of statistics. He added that statistics is very important because most of policy decisions are based on the data and its representation. He also highlighted that there is lot of subjectivity in the statistics which is ignored by both teachers and statisticians and it can have adverse impacts on policy making.

Dr. Asad Zaman thanked HEC for the sponsorship of the workshop and expressed the hope that the workshop will bring revolutionary change in the teaching of statistics