Teaching introductory statistics, and more

Andrew Gelman has an interesting post discussing Xi-Liao Meng’s recent article in the American Statistician, "Desired and Feared—What Do We Do Now and Over the Next 50 Years?" Xi-Liao addresses the challenge for UTSA’s new Quantitative Scholarship project head on:

statistics, as a discipline, is now both desired and feared.With this new status comes a set of enormous challenges. We no longer simply enjoy the privilege of playing in or cleaning up everyone’s backyard. We are now being invited into everyone’s study or living room, and trusted with the task of being their offspring’s first quantitative nanny. Are we up to such a nerve-wracking task, given the insignificant size of our profession relative to the sheer number of our hosts and their progeny?

Gelman has some useful thoughts, and a link to his Q.S. book, which I had not previously heard of.