ISU professor and QME alum: ‘the way I approach teaching is completely different’

Before coming to the U of M, Laura Ziegler had been teaching for six years.

“I did not realize how much more there was to learn about teaching statistics,” she says. “It was exciting to learn that there is not just one way to teach statistics, and there is not one set curriculum that needed to be followed.”

Now a PhD alumni of the Department of Educational Psychology’s quantitative methods in education program, Ziegler looks back fondly on her experience at the U “What I enjoyed most was getting to work with amazing faculty members and students, not just at the U of M,” she recalls.“The faculty at U of M were wonderful at getting students involved in their research which often meant collaborating with others at different universities.”

As a statistics education student, Ziegler attended many conferences where she was able to make connections with other scholars around the world.

“I built many strong friendships with people I am still regularly in contact with four years later.”

After going to through the QME program, Ziegler says, “The way I approach teaching is completely different.”

She uses this new way of teaching every day. Currently a lecturer at Iowa State University, Ziegler teaches a variety of undergraduate statistics courses and coordinates a multi-section introductory statistics courses which involves assisting graduate students teaching the course.