Stats boot camp aims to better prep students

The University of North Georgia's (UNG) Department of Psychological Science offered a statistics boot camp July 29-30 at UNG's Dahlonega and Gainesville campuses with the goal of boosting student success in the quantitative methods course.

Perceived as one of most challenging classes in the department, quantitative methods kicks off a 15-hour sequence of courses that can be delayed substantially by not passing the first one. With it also being a six-hour class, the potential hit to a student's GPA can be detrimental, as well. 

"Quantitative methods is critical to being a good psychologist and a good problem-solver. Now they've had some exposure to statistics. We have taken away the shock value," Dr. Susann Doyle-Portillo, department head and professor of psychology, said. "We wanted to give them a preview so that when they see it in the class, there will be some recognition."

Laurel Reese, a junior from Tucker, Georgia, pursuing a degree in psychology, was particularly grateful to have the stats boot camp to help her get acclimated as a transfer student from LaGrange College.

"I just wanted to experience what a UNG class would be like since this is my first semester," Reese said. "I wanted to see my professors because a couple of the people here giving us these lessons are going to be teaching me."

This boot camp is helping pave a smoother way for her desired career path.

"I'm a big advocate for mental health, and my goal is to be a juvenile forensic psychologist," Reese said. "I love children and working with them."

Emma Holloman, a sophomore from Blakely, Georgia, pursuing a degree in psychology, fell in love with psychology in a dual enrollment course in high school. She was thankful to take part in the boot camp as she prepares to be a forensic psychologist.

"I was scared about stats, but now I feel a lot better about my quantitative methods class," Holloman said. "I'm glad I got to meet my professor, Dr. Dawson."

Dr. Bryan Dawson, associate department head and professor of psychology, enjoyed interacting with students and putting them at ease with an often-intimidating subject matter.

"This helps students see these are my professors, this is their pace, they're human beings. We get to see them. We get to have some smaller conversations with them before the semester starts, which reduces some of that anxiety," Dawson said. "It sets the environment for us to be able to create that comfort zone for them to be able to ask questions."