Abraham Ayebo, Ph.D.

I strive to engage, challenge and inspire growth in every student I teach. My teaching philosophy is rooted in the growth mindset — the belief that intelligence and ability can be developed through effort, perseverance and effective support. I foster a collaborative classroom culture that values curiosity and resilience, treating mistakes as opportunities for learning. My goal is to help students build confidence in their quantitative skills and develop a lifelong passion for inquiry and problem-solving, especially in health science contexts.

My research is grounded in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, with a focus on the affective dimensions of mathematics and statistics education. I study how students’ beliefs, attitudes and emotions — especially those tied to growth mindset and self-efficacy — shape their learning experiences and performance in quantitative courses. I also explore innovative strategies for teaching Bayesian statistics to undergraduate health science students. My goal is to advance evidence-based, equity-focused teaching practices that boost motivation, deepen statistical reasoning and prepare students to apply quantitative thinking to real-world health and social science challenges.

Selected Publications

Invited Talks and Papers (Statistics and Health Science Focus)

• Ayebo, A. presented “Teaching Practical Significance: Integrating Effect Size Concepts in the Interpretation of Survey-Based Research” at the Joint Statistics Meeting in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2025.
• Ayebo, A. led a roundtable discussion titled “Using JASP to Teach Bayesian Statistics to Health Science Students” at the Joint Statistics Meeting in Nashville in 2025.
• Ayebo, A., Sorrell, T. and Seals, S. presented “Teaching Bayesian Statistics for Genomics and Genetics to Undergraduate Health Science Students: Equipping Future Researchers for Interdisciplinary Challenges” at STATGEN 2025 in Minneapolis.
• Ayebo, A. presented “Advancing Bayesian Thinking in STEM Education” at the Joint Statistics Meetings in Portland, Oregon, in 2024.
• Sorrell, T., Seals, S. and Ayebo, A. presented “Shaping Tomorrow’s Innovators: Integrating Bayesian Concepts Into STEM Pedagogy” at the VAMTE Conference in Richmond, Virginia, in 2024.
• Ayebo, A. presented “Examining the Beliefs of Calculus Students About Mathematics” at the 22nd International Conference on Education in Honolulu, Hawaii, in 2023.

Posters

• Van Dyke, K., Al Dawood, D., Moore, S. and Ayebo, A. presented the poster “Diagnostic Methods for Detection of Pancreatic Cancers: A Meta-Analysis” at the Joint Statistics Meeting in Nashville in 2025.
• Ayebo, A. and Ayebo, O. presented the poster “Bayesian Statistical Methods in Genomic Research — Applications and Advantages Over Frequentist Approaches” at STATGEN 2025 in Minneapolis.

Full publication list available upon request.

University of Minnesota Academic Unit Service Award (2025)

Ayebo received Tier 1 and Tier 2 funding for the NSF BAYES BATS initiative in 2023, totaling $3,850. She served as co-principal investigator on the Educational Development and Innovation Grant in 2022 ($5,000) and on the NSF Noyce Scholarship Program in 2014 ($800,000).