Resource Economics

Introductory Statistics is a class most students approach with fear and trembling, but for Richard Rogers, associate professor of Resource Economics, this attitude just makes teaching the course a more interesting challenge. "My motto is: Stats is Fun',' says Rogers. "And I want students to be pleasantly surprised."

Rogers's enthusiasm and teaching skill have earned him public recognition, including the College of Food and Natural Resources's Outstanding Teaching Award and the University's Distinguished Teaching Award as well as the USDA's National Award for Excellence in College and University Teaching. Colleagues and students praise his creativity and commitment. "Even when he has developed a course to perfection, he will tinker with the next offering and, to my amazement, will improve upon perfection." wrote Cleve Willis, head of Resource Economics, in support of Rogers' nomination for the Distinguished Teaching Award.

A slim man in his early 40's, Rogers conducts the class with energy and enthusiasm. He will stop at almost nothing to make statistics comprehensible to his 367 students, whose range of mathematical skill varies greatly. Every Friday he plays "Stats Live!" with the class, adopting a snappy game-show host manner as he uses his computer to choose students to participate in empirical demonstrations of statistics concepts discussed in class. He has even resorted to handing out hundreds of bags of M&M's to the students so they can calculate the probability of finding different colors in each bag.

"I'll spend $35 or $40 out of my own pocket for the M&M's," he says. "Some students think it's silly, but for others, it's a tangible way to relate to the concept of probability."

Not every minute is fun and games, but Rogers does his best to connect the material with students' daily lives. One Friday morning in September, he starts a lecture on probability by exclaiming,"Get statistics into your weekend. Just think, you'll probably go out, and you probably won't have a good time!" The students burst into laughter. "This stuff applies," he says. He then asks the students how they like his outfit � khakis, a denim shirt and a stylish black-and-white tie. Having engaged their attention, he turns on his overhead projector and begins the days lecture.

Rogers illustrates statistical formulas using simple examples like throwing dice and flipping coins. He then applies the formulas to serious, real-life situations, such as the probability of getting breast cancer or the accuracy of the stereotype that young people don't vote. Once he had his students do a taste test of Stateline potato chips, which the company used as market research. "It gave the students a practical view of how companies make decisions," he explains. He laces his lectures with up-to-the-minute examples from UMass (the changing length of basketball shorts) or national news (public opinion supporting Ross Perot's participation in the presidential debates).

Rogers cares not only about communicating his subject, but also about setting an example. "A student may have forgotten standard deviations," he says, "but will remember how I responded to a person of color in the classroom."

Tardiness is unacceptable. "I tell students,'If you're 15 minutes late for your plane at spring break, it doesn't wait for you.'"

For students who need extra help, Rogers holds "Saturday Stats" sessions. "It's exciting," he says. "By fear or some other motivation, I've brought them in on Saturday morning to talk about statistics." He also offers an honors section "open to anyone who's extremely serious about the class and would like to put forth the extra effort to make me feel my job is worthwhile."

Along with his commitment to teaching, Rogers is also a nationally recognized scholar. He studies the structure and performance of the national food industry, a subject he teaches to upper level and graduate students. Having attended large public universities himself (Berkeley and the University of Wisconsin), Rogers wants students to recognize that they are getting a first-rate education at UMass. "I want them to think: 'He's available to us, and he's widely respected in his field.'"

The secret of Rogers' success is simple, he says."I really care. It's a passion. Every day I come in wanting to do a good job in the classroom."