Biography
Douglas Whitaker is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Dr. Whitaker’s primary research area is developing and evaluating psychometrically valid instruments for use in educational contexts. Additionally, he is broadly interested in the teaching and learning of statistics and data science and provides statistical consulting services across disciplines.
Dr. Whitaker’s current work focuses on measuring attitudes, and he is a member of the Motivational Attitudes in Statistics and Data Science Education Research (MASDER) team. As a member of the MASDER team, he is a Co-PI on an NSF-funded grant to develop a family of instruments for use with students and instructors to holistically measure attitudes and characteristics of the learning environment in statistics and data science education contexts (DUE #2013392). Dr. Whitaker also studies the use of non-Likert-type items for measuring attitudes.
Dr. Whitaker attended the University of Florida, where he earned his master’s degree in Statistics in 2012 and doctorate in Statistics Education in 2016. As a graduate student, he served as a member of the NSF-funded Levels of Conceptual Understanding in Statistics (LOCUS; DRL-1118168) test development project.
- Statistics Education
- Educational Measurement
- Instrument and Assessment Development
- Psychometrics
- Attitudes and Beliefs about Statistics
- Data Science Education
- R Programming
-
PhD in Statistics Education, 2016
University of Florida
-
MStat in Statistics, 2012
University of Florida
-
BA in Statistics, 2010
University of Florida
-
BS in Mathematics, 2010
University of Florida
Experience
Projects
MASDER: Developing a instruments to measure attitudes in statistics and data science
The Motivational Attitudes in Statistics and Data Science Education Research (MASDER) research group is developing a family of instruments to measure student and instructor attitudes and characteristics of learning environments for statistics and data science courses. This work is funded by the National Science Foundation (DUE-2013392).
ESG-type items in statistics education
Evaluative Space Grid (ESG) items may provide for a more nuanced understanding of neutral attitudes. This work is in its early stages and is supported by an internal New Scholars Grant from Mount Saint Vincent University.
LOCUS assessments
The Levels of Conceptual Understanding in Statistics (LOCUS) project developed a family of tests for measuring statistics knowledge that are freely available online. The aim of the LOCUS project (PI: Tim Jacobbe) was to develop statistics tests that measured conceptual—rather than procedural—knowledge. I joined this project as a graduate student and have continued to use these assessments and document their validity evidence for use with different populations.
Activities for teaching statistics
I develop and share activities and lesson plans for teaching statistics topics.
Validity Evidence for Measurement in Mathematics Education
I have been a member of a large team that is documenting validity evidence for instruments and tests used in mathematics and statistics education.
Exclusionary discipline and student outcomes
What are educators perceptions of disciplinary alternative schools? What are student academic and behavioral performance outcomes at such a school?
Predicting citrus greening disease
Citrus greening disease (huanglongbing) affects many parts of citrus trees and has devastating consequences for industry. To what extent can starch content in citrus leaves be used to predict if a tree is infected with huanglongbing?
Butterfly abundance
To what extent can roadside areas provide habitat for butterflies, and what effect do different mowing intervals have on these areas?
Evaluating a placement test
A university department needs a new statistics placement test. This project is evaluating the current mathematics placement test, documenting validity evidence supporting its use, and determining what modifications would be necessary for it to serve as a suitable placement test for statistics.
Lexical ambiguities in statistics education
Many words used in statistics also have different meanings in other contexts, especially everyday life. How do students in a high school statistics course understand some of these terms?
Developing embedded signature assessments
A teacher preparation program at a university developed a set of assessments embedded within courses that were to be used to measure important outcomes. The assessments were motivated by the state’s adoption of a high stakes teacher licensing exam and accreditation requirements.
Identities and beliefs of exemplary statistics teachers
Statistics teachers at the school level face many challenges, especially considering that most are trained in teaching mathematics. How did exemplary statistics teachers overcome such challenges?
R Packages
I develop and release R packages while working on other projects.
Graduate assistants' healthcare experiences
What are graduate assistants' experiences with the health insurance provided by their university?
Investigations of teaching techniques
As a reflective practitioner, I am committed to studying best practices for teaching.
Measuring student attitudes toward statistics
I research affective constructs in statistics education using existing instruments such as the Survey of Attitudes Toward Statistics (SATS-36; Schau, 2003).
StatTLC
I was a co-editor of the Statistics Teaching and Learning Corner (StatTLC) blog.
Recent & Upcoming Talks
Recent Publications
Contact
- firstname "dot" lastname "at" msvu "dot" ca
- Evaristus 357, 166 Bedford Highway, Halifax, NS B3M 2J6