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Dear Colleagues Please refer to the details below of a call for contributions to a special issue of the Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice (https://ro.uow.edu.au/jutlp/). Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice Special Issue: Innovations and challenges in the teaching of statistics to non-specialists Guest Editor: Margaret MacDougall, Medical Statistician and Researcher in Education, University of Edinburgh Over the past 50 years, great strides have been taken in the use of technology and distance learning across the disciplines and there has been rising interest in research-informed teaching. Correspondingly, there has been a movement towards greater openness by statisticians to change their teaching practices in an effort to strive for excellence. With this background, there is a need both for a serious consolidation of current and recommended future good practice in the teaching of statistics to non-specialists and for reflection on how curricula can be designed to ensure that statistical learning is valued by learners and by curriculum managers. Moreover, while conferences and online forums allow statistical educators to share their frustrations in terms of seemingly intractable problems relating to mismatches between the efforts of the educator and the learner, learning blocks among students regarding statistical reasoning and even learner hostility, little of such content is shared openly in published work. There is therefore a call for a more balanced representation of educator experiences in teaching statistics to non-specialists within journal publications in order to foster a more inclusive and supportive community of educators. Contributions are therefore invited on an international scale from teachers in higher education who have a career focus in inspiring students to learn statistics as non-specialists in this subject. The special issue will be open to contributions within a wide range of disciplinary settings where statistics is taught to non-specialists, including, but not limited to, Medicine and allied health sciences, and the social and physical sciences. General topics of interest include: * a historical overview of the changing face of the statistical education of non-specialists over recent decades; * research and/or development projects which have led to improved practices in learning and teaching; * innovative methods in learning and teaching; and * barriers and challenges in enhancing learning and teaching and recommendations for removing the barriers and addressing the challenges. Prospective contributors are also most welcome to contact me directly (email: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>) to discuss alternative topics. To be considered for publication, papers must also explicitly engage with at least one of the following themes: 1. Insights into what makes the teaching of statistics to non-specialists different by comparison with other learners; 2. Methodological developments in supporting student learning, including assessment - what has and has not worked and in what contexts; 3. Resource challenges in terms of staff and funding to support pedagogical innovations and how these have been addressed in particular disciplinary settings; and 1. Recommendations for changing disciplinary cultures within different faculties and removing political barriers to allow the role of statistical educators to be better recognized. The deadline for submission of formal proposals is 6 December 2019. This should include a title and an abstract. The word limit for the abstract is 500 words. You should also include separately an indication of which of the above themes will be covered in your paper and how this will be achieved. Timeline Date Activity 6 December 2019 Deadline for receipt of formal proposals, including titles, abstracts and themes. 31 January 2020 Deadline for decisions on formal proposals and invitations for full articles to be communicated. 30 April 2020 Full articles due 1 May to 12 June 2020 Review process 13 June 2020 Deadline for feedback to be sent to authors, including decisions on articles 22 August 2020 Deadline for prospective authors to provide both responses to feedback and final versions of papers September - November 2020 Editing and proofing of papers December 2020 Publication of Special Issue The review criteria and expectations for full papers are available at: https://ro.uow.edu.au/jutlp/policies.html . The link for abstract submissions is provided below: https://forms.gle/4MyL55tvjBfRYSzs5 . Best wishes Margaret MacDougall ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dr Margaret MacDougall Medical Statistician and Researcher in Education (Senior Lecturer) Centre for Population Health Sciences The Usher Institute of Population Health Sciences and Informatics University of Edinburgh Medical Shool Teviot Place Edinburgh EH8 9AG Tel: +44(0)131 650 3211 Fax: +44(0)131 650 6909 Email: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> https://www.ed.ac.uk/profile/margaret-macdougall The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with registration number SC005336. You may leave the list at any time by sending the command SIGNOFF allstat to [log in to unmask], leaving the subject line blank.