After describing deficiencies in statistical packages, Peter Schwanenberg lists seven important points for producing and judging of statistical software for teaching. The more points satisfied, the better. No existing software satisfies all of the requirements, although some are coming close.
For over twenty years statistical software has been employed in introductory applied statistics courses. It has been used to calculate descriptive statistics, probabilities, confidence intervals, hypothesis test statistics, and linear regressions. Recently, statistical calculators with many of the capabilities of existing software have appeared. In this paper the authors explained the pedagogical advantages and disadvantages of each tool. They compared the capabilities of MINITAB, a widely-used general-purpose data analysis system, with the HP-21S, a relatively inexpensive Hewlett-Packard stat/math calculator. They also presented the preliminary results of an experiment comparing the use of these two computing tools in the classroom.
Describes work submitted to statistical competitions in Hong Kong.
In 1988 the GCSE examination was introduced in England and Wales to replace the dual system of examinations taken at age 16 years. GCE (for the most able) and CSE (for the majority). Certificates are awarded in individual subjects. Most school pupils take from six to ten subjects, nearly always including Mathematics and English. One of the many subjects on offer is Statistics which entails both written examination and course work. GCSE Statistics is normally taken as a two-year course (age 14-16) although some candidates take it the year after sitting their main GCSE examinations, as a one-year course (age 16-17). It is very much a minority subject (perhaps taken by 1% of all school candidates). Currently there are five separate examination boards for England and Wales providing five different syllabuses. However, in 1992 all five will combine to provide a single syllabus, to be first examined in 1994. A working party of the Joint Rationalisation Group for the GCSE Boards is currently devising the new syllabus. Final agreement had not yet been reached although much progress has been made.
The teaching of statistics to non-statisticians is a well established practice. Indeed such is the success with which the argument for the relevancy of statistics has been put that the practice has been extended to include undergraduate and postgraduate courses not just for engineers, nor only geographers and sociologists, but even such inveterately literary characters as historians! While the latter might be considered an extreme case, there is a common problem to be found in all courses of this nature. Put simply, it consists of convincing students of the relevance and utility of statistics to their particular discipline which in turn requires the conversion of plausible theory into credible practice, the plethora of validating bodies to be found in certain sectors of higher education, but too little time has been given to the more mundane, but no less important, task of actually teaching a course in a manner that successfully converts theory into practice. This paper describes the collaboration between a statistician and historian in teaching introductory statistics to history students.
This paper describes an Open University course entitled: MDST 242: Statistics in Society. This course will be available to Open University students for up to 10 years starting in February 1983. However, in addition to being anecdotal and specific, the paper also raises general issues and questions concerning the teaching of statistical methods to nonspecialists.
It is a well-known fact that, at least in American colleges and universities, most professors are highly trained in the subject matter of their chosen discipline but receive little or no formal training in how to teach that subject matter. These professors (including most of us) have learned teaching by experience and from informal observation of our own professors when we were students. This is quite a contrast to the training received by elementary and secondary school teachers. We will discuss the "why" and "who" of the training of teachers and then turn our attention to the question of "when" and "how". To this end we will discuss what has been done in the Statistics Department at the University of Missouri-Columbia. We provide versions of handout given to them.
It is clear to all of those who are attending this conference that statistics should be an important component in the education of all people and that statistics education should begin with young children and be carried on continuously throughout the years of formal education. However, a rather large percentage of teachers, especially at the school level, have not themselves experienced an adequate statistics education and hence lack knowledge about statistical topics per se as well as what types of statistical activities would be appropriate for their students and how to integrate such activities into their course of study. It is necessary to attack this cycle of ignorance from several directions: 1) the initial training of teachers should have an adequate statistical component; 2) there should be a variety of inservice programs for practicing teachers at colleges, within school systems, and for teacher self-study; 3) curriculum developers and directors should more enthusiastically incorporate adequate statistical activities in their programs and courses of study; 4) there should be more active research into questions of statistical didactics; and 5) there should be developed more effective statistical lessons and learning sequences for students.
The Schools Council Project on Statistical Education, working in England and Wales and based at the University of Sheffield, was the first national project in the world to look specifically at the statistical education needs of all pupils in the 11-16 age range and to develop teaching materials to meet these needs. In this paper I have tried to show some of the many things anyone developing new teaching materials has to take into account. I have indicated how they affected the teaching material of the Schools Council Project on Statistical Education and the approach taken by the project team. I hope that this will help any of you who have to develop teaching material in your own countries to identify the areas of concern and produce relevant material for you pupils.
In recent years there has been considerable and growing interest in the use of statistics throughout many sectors of our society. The quantitative nature of this discipline has created opportunities for scientists to participate in the new technology of the twentieth century, characterized by its unique methodology, akin to what is termed "the scientific method" in the philosophy of science. This increased demand for statistical knowledge can be met adequately if the universities will produce qualified college teachers of statistics. We look specifically at preparing college teachers of statistics, by providing required competencies via coursework, opportunities for undergraduate teaching and statistical consulting, and in-service training.