Teaching quantitative methods in disciplinary context: integrating quantitative method and evidence into the Social Science undergraduate curriculum.

这一建议直接回应了对社会科学本科生量化技能水平较低的担忧。我们列出了一系列课程创新，旨在推动曼彻斯特大学社会科学本科课程在教与学中使用定量数据和方法的步骤改变。我们的出发点是，尽管量化培训现在是大多数社会科学课程的必修课，但对许多学生来说，它仍被视为与其他学位脱节的东西。这突出了方法课程本身的问题，但也是“非方法”教学的问题，它往往缺乏对定量例子的使用，也没有提到量化方法对学科知识和理解发展的研究贡献。在广泛报道的学生对数字作业感到焦虑的背景下，难怪社会科学专业的本科生目前很少在毕业论文中包含任何量化分析。我们的建议有两个互补的方面。第一个涉及与曼彻斯特政治和社会学的知名讲师合作，在他们的提名(非方法)模块的教学中嵌入更多量化数据和方法的使用。他们包括具有一系列量化专门知识和经验的工作人员，教授从1级到3级的课程以及涉及一系列实质性专题领域的课程。在为期3年的项目的第一年，我们将与每位讲师合作开发教材，以纳入他们自己的教学。这些可能包括用于授课的简单样本和用于教程的更具互动性的练习，并将利用项目小组拥有广泛经验的丰富的现有教学资源(包括教学数据集和对现实世界数据的用户友好界面)。经过广泛的内部试验和评估，这些教材将被重新用作更广泛的高等教育社区的教学资源。通过确保学科专家在最初的设计中投入大量资金，我们预计其内容将与其他许多在其他大学教授类似课程的课程相关，并可转移到其他许多其他课程。所有材料将包括教师资料包(包括数据细节、提供材料的教学选择指南以及与我们两个目标学科的相关基准声明相关联的学习结果)。我们建议的第二步涉及在正式方法培训中向学生介绍定量方法的方式的改革。虽然我们已经强调了在实质性教学中更多地使用定量证据的必要性，但方法课程在确保学生获得参与这一材料所需的关键技能和信心方面仍然至关重要。由于我们的许多学生来到曼彻斯特时只有基本的数学技能，我们建议在第一年引入量化数据和方法的方式上进行创新，更多地利用现实世界的数据和基于探究的学习形式。我们的建议包括开发一门全新的“社会统计”课程，向来自非统计背景的人介绍统计扫盲的关键概念，并在研究和政策中使用数字数据。我们还将开发一个新的关于社会调查二次分析的20年级学分模块。这一模块将建立在申请者在以前的ESRC资助下开发的成功的培训模式上，并专门设计来激发和使学生在他们的最后一年的论文中使用定量数据的二次分析。这些创新将为曼彻斯特和其他地方的社会科学学生在使用定量方法方面真正和持久的改变奠定基础。

This proposal responds directly to the concerns about low levels of quantitative skills among undergraduates in the social sciences. We set out a series of curriculum innovations designed to instigate a step change in the use of quantitative data and method in the teaching and learning on undergraduate programmes in the Social Sciences at Manchester University. Our starting point is the observation that while quantitative training is now compulsory on most social science programmes, for many students it is still seen as something detached from the rest of their degree. This highlights a problem with the methods courses themselves but also with 'non-methods' teaching which frequently lacks much use of quantitative examples, or reference to the research contribution of quantitative approaches to the development of subject knowledge and understanding. Against a background of widely reported student anxiety over numerical work it is unsurprising that so few undergraduates in the social sciences currently include any quantitative analysis in final year dissertations. There are two complementary planks to our proposal. The first involves working with named lecturers in Politics and Sociology at Manchester to embed more use of quantitative data and method into their teaching of nominated (non-methods) modules. They include staff with a range of quantitative expertise and experience, teaching courses from level 1 to 3 and across a range of substantive topic areas. In year 1 of the 3 year project we will work collaboratively with each lecturer to develop materials for inclusion in their own teaching. These may range from simple exemplars for use in lectures to more interactive exercises for use in tutorials, and will draw on the wealth of existing teaching resources (including teaching datasets and user-friendly interfaces to real world data) of which the project team has extensive experience. After extensive in-house piloting and evaluation these teaching materials will be re-purposed as a teaching resource for the wider HE community. By ensuring heavy input of subject specialists in their initial design we envisage their content will be relevant and transferable to many others teaching similar courses in other universities. All materials will include a teacher's pack (including details on data, guidelines on pedagogical options for delivering materials, and learning outcomes linked to relevant benchmarking statements for our two target disciplines). The second plank of our proposals involves a revamp of the way quantitative method is introduced to students in formal methods training. While we have emphasised the need to embed more use of quantitative evidence in substantive teaching, methods courses remain crucial in ensuring students acquire the key skills and confidence needed to engage with this material. With many of our students arriving at Manchester with only rudimentary maths skills, we are proposing innovations in the way we introduce quantitative data and methods in the first year, making greater use of real world data and forms of enquiry based learning. Our proposals include development of a brand new course on 'Statistics in Society' introducing key concepts of statistical literacy and the use of numeric data in research and policy to those from non-statistical backgrounds. We will also develop a new second year 20 credit module on Secondary Analysis of Social Surveys. This module will build on a successful training model developed by the applicants under previous ESRC funding, and is designed specifically to enthuse and enable students to use secondary analysis of quantitative data in their final year dissertations.Together these innovations will put in place the foundations for a real and lasting step change in the use of quantitative methods by social science students at Manchester and beyond.