Teaching

  • In this paper, particular suggestions, borrowed from principles of effective teaching practice, are made to enable students to have a clear sense of the goals, sequence, and rationale for the course, and more generally, to engage students in meaningful and memorable learning. Finally, linkages should be clipped from newspaper and the popular press to illustrate the applicability to everyday life of the statistics being taught in class, and to make students understand how inundated they are with statistics on a daily basis, even though they probably do not realize it. A motivated student is an interested learner, and the more we, as instructors, can do to motivate our students, the more satisfied we can expect them to be.

  • With the increasing recognition that statistics should be a part of the core curriculum for the compulsory years of schooling for all children, there is now an urgent need for teachers to be trained in both statistical content and appropriate teaching methods. this is a world-wide problem which is exacerbated because of the many changes which are currently taking place in the way in which statistics is practiced. This book lays the foundation for teachers' responses to these changes, exploring how best to teach those applied skills which are now seen to be a more relevant part of the content of statistics courses. It includes consideration of: changes taking place in statistics itself, for example in the areas of Exploratory Data Analysis, statistical computing and graphics; conceptual difficulties which face teachers and students of statistics and probability; research into statistical education; management of statistical project work; developments in teaching methods and materials; use and evaluation of teaching resources, including computer hardware and software, audio-visual aids and textbooks; assessment of statistical skills and understanding. Although teachers of advanced statistics courses will find the book of great interest, its main focus is on how to provide for the needs of the majority of students, namely those students who (although studying the subject in its own right, or combined with mathematics or other disciplines) do not intend to become specialist statisticians. Based on the authors' wide experiences of teaching statistics and statistical computing and their extensive knowledge of the related literature and research, the book provides a synthesis of ideas on the practicalities of teaching statistics, with a critical overview of relevant research into statistical education.

  • With the increasing availability of computers, it is important that the educational community develops data-based computer packages for use in schools. Such packages should be more than data bases, per se. In order for them to be used effectively they should contain ideas for activities that can be integrated into the classroom. Statistics Canada has developed an electronic learning package exclusively for the education market. This electronic learning tool, called E-STAT, is based on Compact Disc Read Only Memory technology (CD-ROM) which allows storage of vast amounts of data. On one CD-ROM disc, E-STAT becomes two of Statistics Canada's most popular CD-ROM products. This report gives an overview of the potential applications of E-STAT to the high school curriculum. It is easy to see that the potential goes beyond the scope of the samples given here. One of the strengths of this tool is its adaptability to the needs and approaches of the individual teacher. The examples illustrate that E-STAT is a valuable computer-aided learning tool to support education as well as a reliable and current reference tool to support research in school resource centers. It has the advantage that the information/data is/are more current and comprehensive than most text books. Furthermore, through periodic updates, the information can be kept current.

  • The aim of this paper is to attempt an answer to the questions posed in the title. Geographically or economically speaking, countries vary from developing to developed, from the North to the South, and from East to West. Within each geographical context, let alone amongst them, there is a wide range of jobs, occupations, positions, etc., each of which has its own data analysis requirements. These requirements vary to suit macro versus micro levels; high management and executive levels versus middle, low and other managerial levels; and research and policy making levels versus administrators and clerks. Consequently, given the complexity of situations in which data analysis will be used there cannot be unique approaches to teaching data analysis. Such is the situation in the world of work. However, the situation is not much different in the world of education. The variety of audiences who can, or wish to, be taught data analysis include parents, teachers and business people in different sectors, government employees who, in turn, are scattered among different ministries and departments which certainly are not unique. What are the implications of this diversity for teaching data analysis? The remainder of the paper is organized into five sections: (a) The teaching/learning load and the teacher's role; (b) School children and the future; (c) A framework for a course on data analysis for schools; (d) A course on data analysis for schools: and (e) Conclusion

  • The aim of this paper is to draw attention to the main areas where data analysis is currently being taught, namely: (i) mathematics containing a data analysis element; (ii) specific courses in statistics; (iii) data analysis taught specifically in other subject areas and (iv) courses which make an inherent assumption of statistical knowledge. Furthermore, the paper and presentation are designed to promote discussion on appropriate teaching methods of data analysis within our educational establishments.

  • Statistical methods are widely used in everyday life and research. Users are very different in their abilities and skills. Given the diversity of users every statistical educator must find a way to teach statistics and to decide what is important and understandable for a specific group of users. We shall try to present some views of the teaching of statistics.

  • The need for mathematically literate students who can function on a technology driven society, together with the demonstrated lack of success of the current mathematics curriculum, has paved the way for major reform efforts in mathematics in the United States. One of the reform documents, Reshaping School Mathematics, a philosophy and framework for curricular change published by the National Research Council (1990), suggests, "Most obvious, perhaps is the need to understand data presented in a variety of different formats.... Citizens who cannot properly interpret quantitative data are, in this day and age, functionally illiterate" (p. 8). Leading proponents of change to school mathematics, including the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) and the Mathematics Science Education Board, emphasize that data analysis must be a key component of a revitalized curriculum if mathematics is to relate to the practical world of the student and if it is to provide the necessary skills for living in an information age. This paper describes the NSF funded project: " A Data Driven Curriculum," for students in grades 9 - 12. The project addresses two needs: how to use data analysis to motivate some of the essential topics of a restructured mathematics curriculum, and how to identify and teach those data analysis skills that are required for effective participation in society.

  • The purpose of this paper is to show how the spirit of EDA (Exploratory Data Analysis) may be used at the primary level, the focus being on exploration and stem-and-leaf displays. The paper has three major chapters, one about pupils in primary school, one that deals with student teachers for such pupils, and one about in-service education of teachers who have once been such student teachers. The chapter about pupils begins with a rather lengthy description of a lesson with a grade 3 class. I felt a more abbreviated description could not convey the atmosphere properly, and so I decided to include this fairly complete account of the lesson. The remaining chapters are less detailed and describe some of my experiences of spreading the very basic ideas of EDA to future and practicing elementary teachers. This work is of course necessary when one wishes to introduce EDA in schools.

  • This paper begins by offering eight recommendations for successful integration of statistics into the pre-college curriculum. Two student-centered activities are described which have been successful in fostering maximum student involvement and involve multiple modes of representation.

  • In this paper we focus mainly on the expansion of instruction. Specifically, we examine existing approaches and programs for teaching statistics primarily from the perspective of their ability to reach teachers working with the majority of U.S. students, in "average" or "below average" schools, and who, so far, had made little or no effort to teach statistics. Such teachers often teach the "forgotten halfs" (the 50% or so of U.S. students who do not go to college), the students who may go to college but drop out, and the students who will not be exposed to statistics education after leaving high school. In particular, we examine programs offered to mathematics educators where, ever since the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics has formally included a strand on statistics in its 1989 Curriculum and Evaluation Standards, attempts to introduce statistics into U.S. schools seem to be most visible.

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