Jeff Witmer, JSE Editor

As the Journal of Statistics Education’s (JSE) newly appointed editor, Jeff Witmer will serve for the next three years and plans to add at least two sections to the journal: Teaching Statistics in the Health Sciences and Teaching Data Science.

Teaching Statistics in the Health Sciences, which is being headed by Matt Hayat, will address the needs and interests of those who teach students in disciplines such as dentistry, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, and public health.

Teaching Data Science, headed by Nick Horton, will include a mixture of “what” and “how” articles. What should students learn about computation and data technologies? How should analytic tools and workflows be taught? This new section will (a) help statisticians be aware of what is happening at the intersection of statistics, computer science, and domain application areas and (b) help those who have meager computer science skills develop greater facility with sophisticated algorithmic foundations, data technologies, and novel statistical methods. The papers in the section will benefit readers who want to use efficient and pedagogically sound Python and R code, for example, and who want guidance on how and why the code was written as it was so they can learn from and build on it. Other papers in this section might explore new technologies, approaches, techniques, activities, courses, or units added to existing courses.

Two longstanding sections of the journal—Dataset and Stories and Research on K–12 Statistics Education—will continue to focus on curricular reform and innovative methods of instruction.

For the past few years, JSE has been tracking views of articles. There is a strong association between number of views and whether a paper has an immediate impact. The evidence suggests many readers scan JSE with a preference for articles that look like they contain material a STAT 101 or 102 teacher could use to make an immediate change in their class, particularly one that might fit into one class meeting. Articles of all kinds are welcome, however, including those that help shape the future of statistics education.

JSE is free, appearing electronically three times per year. All manuscript submissions should be sent electronically via the ScholarOne Manuscripts portal.