Leanne Scott

Biography

Leanne Scott was appointed lecturer in 1995. Prior to this she worked as a full-time Research Officer in a post funded by the Water Research Commission (1992-1994). She did free-lance consulting during 1990-1992 whilst caring for her young children. She worked for the Institute for Maritime Technology as an operational researcher from 1988 to 1990. During the period 1984 to 1987 she was employed as a Research Fellow at the Clinical Operational Research Unit which is based at University College London, exploring ways of furthering our understanding of intractable diseases through analysis and modelling. She obtained a B.Sc. in Zoology and Statistics from UCT in 1979, B.Sc. Hons in Operational Research in 1980, M.Sc. in Operational Research in 1983. Her PhD (awarded 2004) thesis was entitled “Legitimacy and Decision Making in Developmental Local Government: Participative MCDA in Stellenbosch”.

Research Interest

Currently my research is focused on two main areas: Developing, in collaboration with Prof GDI Barr, a new teaching approach, with associated tools and materials, that is embedded in a spread sheet environment which encourages hands on experimentation with manipulating numerical information. It also aims to promote a sense of curiosity about statistical concepts in a way that is less dependent on the vagaries of (English) language and thus more supportive of the student learning in a non-mother tongue environment. This focus has lead to several published papers and conference presentations. In classic action research style though, it is firmly rooted in and driven by what happens in the first year classrooms. This is a collaborative research thrust with other members in the department of Statistical Sciences. The use of Multi Criteria Decision Making methods in conjunction with Problem Structuring methods applied to two distinct areas of concern: (i) Natural resource evaluation and (ii) The identification and management of problem gamblers in South Africa