There’s a new video series launching in the SAS Education department unlike anything that’s ever been done before. It’s called Stat Wars.
Here’s how it works… two SAS instructors go head-to-head and battle it out over a statistics challenge. (So far no injuries have been reported.) It’s educational and engaging, and best of all, highly entertaining!
The hosts are Marc Huber and Danny Modlin, both SAS instructors and statistics wizards.
But who exactly are these guys about to hit celebrity status? Before we start seeing the paparazzi outside the SAS campus and the duo is spoofed on Saturday Night Live, I sat down with them to find out why they took on this unique challenge.
“I’m having a good time” said Modlin. “There’s always been an element of playful sparring between us.”
Modlin and Huber admit they’ve never had any previous on-camera experience. However, they are used to getting up in front of a class of students and teaching.
“I’m out of my comfort zone on camera,” admits Huber. “However, I like the concept and it’s a great way to show what SAS can do.”
The latest episode, which you can watch below, is a challenge over the best way to compare the average SAT scores by gender.
“These are the types of questions our students frequently ask us in our Statistics 1 classes,” said Huber.
They’re also looking for people to submit questions and ideas for future episodes. If you have a suggestion, please email statwars@sas.com or Tweet using the hashtag #statwars.
I hope to check back in with Huber and Modlin as the series grows – that is, if their celebrity status isn’t too big yet.
4 Comments
I thought this was great. Kudos to both Marc and Danny. Looking forward to more episodes.
I have been a SAS user for over 30 years. In that time I have attended many SAS training sessions--some multiple times over the years. As I have learned over the years, in SAS there are multiple ways to skin the proverbial "statistical cat." This idea is great in not only discussing basic statistical questions, but in showing the SAS roads to a "solution." Guys, great teaching tool. As I have learned over the years, SAS trainers are the best.
I liked the video. i started thinking about my high school kids.
What would be really good food for thought and for high school syllabus is
1. yes this nicely highlights how you have multiple options of approaching a problem but it would be good to understand how each approach evaluates the problem.
2. from a grad school point of view - are there any differences in the result- if so why?
3. for a high school AP stat - looking at the graphs and hinting at what it is saying would be of value.
otherwise a very high level messaging is being delivered. which is ok... but one can easily lose interest.
I've heard stories of 'contest' be conducted within SAS Education where the best Base SAS Programers are put against the best Enterpise Guide and as I'm told the Enterprise Guide developers always win. I could make good use of a video of that contest, if not the excitment of the entire contest and detailed recap would be great as we need to show these programers that there really is beifit to working in Enterprise Guide. I just an idea.
Thanks
Brian