Not another stats course! A problem-based quantitative methods course for (reluctant) doctoral students

Doctoral-level quantitative courses present a challenge for both students and academics, due to the typically wide variety of student skills and their varying interests. This paper discusses the redesign of one such course to teach the research skills required by students, and at the same time, to introduce students to a wider than usual range of statistical techniques. By using a problem-based approach, the course combines material usually taught in research methods classes, such as research question specification and data collection, and also material which is usually restricted to advanced statistics classes, such as complex multivariate techniques. Feedback suggests that students see this approach as being more useful than a traditional techniques-based course.