Other

  • What do elementary teachers need to know and be able to do in order to successfully integrate the teaching and learning of data analysis and statistics as part of their instruction? This chapter discusses the design and implementation of a professional development program to help teachers integrate teaching about statistics in their instruction. This project included: the design of professional development curricula for use with teachers and with teacher leaders (statistics educators), a large-scale implementation program to provide professional development for both teachers and statistics educators using the professional development curricula, and a program of research and evaluation to assess the impact of the project and to surface research questions related to the agenda of the project. The focus of the program is the statistical investigation process: posing questions, collecting and analyzing the data, and interpreting the results. Evidence from participating teachers demonstrates the success of this program in supporting work with students and in promoting inquiry-based pedagogy.

  • Statistics Education (SE) is a relatively new field of knowledge production that has rapidly evolved during the last decade. An indication of this development is the large amount of information available in the proceedings of professional meetings such as ICOTS. However, it is also a fact that only a small part of Statistics Education activities are disseminated in the Spanish language. This reduces the possibilities for Spanish speaking professors and researchers to be informed about results and advances in the field. Hipotesis Alternativa (HA), or Alternative Hypothesis, an electronic bulletin established in 2000, has been created to try to fulfill that need. The bulletin has been of great help for statistics educators in Spanish-Speaking countries. This paper presents an overview of HA accomplishments and some ideas as to the changes that could be made to improve this bulletin.

  • Discussions of quantitative literacy have become increasingly important, and statistics educators are well aware of the link between statistics education and quantitative literacy. Both the statistics education and quantitative literacy movements have emphasized the importance of students practicing skills in multiple contexts - a goal also consistent with a quantitative reasoning across-the-curriculum approach. In this paper, we consider two sources of information: 1) Our data from statistics courses and other quantitative-intensive courses at Lawrence University and 2) a review of the research literature on transfer of quantitative concepts across contexts. Through analysis of these sources, we further explore the link between statistics education and quantitative literacy, and argue for an across-the-curriculum approach to teaching quantitative reasoning. Moreover, we make specific suggestions to statistics educators on their role in the quantitative literacy movement.

  • Statistical terms are accurate and powerful but can sometimes lead to misleading impressions among beginning students. Discrepancies between the popular and statistical meanings of "conditional" are discussed, and suggestions are made for the use of different vocabulary when teaching beginners in applied introductory courses.

  • Statistics is generally taught in schools as part of the mathematical curriculum and, as a result, statistics is perceived as a mathematical concept. Moreover, the teaching emphasis is often placed on the computation of statistical information instead of the development of an " authentic data analysis point of view" (Cobb, 1999). In this paper we consider whether a constructive relationship between statistics and mathematics is possible? We examine examples of statistical teaching situations and analyze them both from a mathematical content point of view and from a statistical perspective, to point out that the interaction between mathematics and statistics is in fact feasible/(practicable). To achieve this, it is necessary to complete a mathematical conceptual analysis of statistical concepts. It is essential to highlight the mathematical concepts beneath the statistical concepts in order to link both of them in creating classroom activities.

  • The paper describes a project involving cooperative learning of statistical topics implemented in a web environment. The project is the result of a fruitful partnership between the Faculty of Statistics of the University of Bologna and the Institute of Educational Research of the Emilia Romagna Region. The synergy between mathematics and statistics offers a concrete example of theoretical method application in order to investigate the real world. The positive effects of cooperative learning can be broadened to a larger learning-teaching community. It makes it possible to create a virtual place where it is possible to realize a cooperative learning milieu. This methodology is particularly useful for statistics, given both the specificity of the discipline and the fact that teaching of the subject often represents a novelty for mathematics teachers. Problems connected with real life are presented on the web and project participants may communicate through the network.

  • This paper highlights the need for teaching statistics with real data in order to make statistics attractive and meaningful to social sciences students. Data coming from current research work are ideal for teaching. Students become interested in statistics and keep their interest as long as statistics is applied to data related to their own fields. Promoting discussion in class around current social issues also emphasizes the value of data to public policy, and the need for social theories to explain and interpret social data. This paper also stresses the need for a textbook concentrating on statistical concepts and thinking, with many real-life examples illustrating the relevance of statistics to understand social issues and making the introductory statistics course an attractive and enlightening course for social sciences students.

  • The present research focuses on prospective teachers' planning, teaching and reflection on young children's (4 to 6 year-old) stochastic activities. The research also concentrates on the way in which prospective teachers view the activity in terms of the mathematical challenge it offers and the development of children's stochastic ideas (Potari & Jaworski, 2002). The methodology of this research is based on the qualitative approach. The researchers analysed twenty-three prospective teachers' lesson plans and actual teaching, interviewed them after their lessons and finally analysed their self-assessment reports. An initial analysis of the data shows that prospective teachers appreciated the importance of using tools in their classrooms for teachings stochastics. However, from our classroom observations we identified that the activity was often mathematically trivialized and the children's involvement was limited. The discussion and self-assessment that took place after the lessons indicated the different degree of prospective teachers' awareness of pedagogical and mathematical issues.

  • As part of the Australian national online curriculum initiative, The Learning Federation is developing hundreds of multimedia learning objects for use in schools. Some of these learning objects are designed to allow children to explore some basic concepts of probability and statistics, such as the relationships between random generators, sample spaces, likelihood of outcomes and both short and long run data on frequency of outcomes. This paper reports on the initial design development of these learning objects and on plans to research their use with children aged 6 to 12 years.

  • This paper reports on an American Statistical Association project which developed ASA-endorsed guidelines for teaching and learning statistics at the Pre K-12 level. A group of leading statistics and mathematics educators developed the report, "A Curriculum Framework for Pre K-12 Statistics Education." These guidelines complement the NCTM Principals and Standards of School Mathematics - providing additional guidance and clarity on the data analysis strand. A major goal of the document is to describe a statistically literate high school graduate and, through a connected curriculum, provide steps to achieve this goal. Topics for discussion include: developing statistical literacy within the Pre K-12 mathematics curriculum; links to the NCTM Standards; impact of high stakes testing; differences between mathematics and statistics; key components and concepts associated with the data analysis process; examples illustrating connections in key statistical concepts across all grade levels.

Pages