CAUSE has held the United States Conference on Teaching Statistics (USCOTS) every other year since 2005. The 2025 USCOTS will be held on Thursday, July 17th to Saturday, July 19th at Iowa State University in Ames, IA, with pre-conference workshops on Tuesday, July 15th to Thursday, July 17th. The conference theme is Useful Models.
USCOTS enables teachers of statistics and data science to exchange ideas and discover how to improve their teaching. The conference features thought-provoking keynote sessions, interactive breakout sessions, useful workshops, informative posters-and-beyond sessions, and relevant exhibitor technology demonstrations. Other highlights of the conference include opening and closing sessions comprised of inspiring five-minute presentations, a banquet with an after-dinner speaker and awards presentations, and birds-of-a-feather lunch discussions. USCOTS 2025 will also feature a Research Satellite, to be held on July 16th to July 17th and a Symposium for Liberal Arts Statisticians and Data Scientists on July 16th.
We trust that you will find USCOTS to provide a very welcoming, interactive, and fun environment. We hope that you will meet new colleagues and renew friendships with peers who are united by a common desire to teach statistics and data science effectively to the next generation of citizens and scholars.
Please consider submitting a proposal for an interactive breakout session, pre-conference workshop, posters and beyond contribution, or birds of a feather discussion topic. Each of these conference activities are described below along with links to submit proposals. Please address questions to program co-chairs Allan Rossman (arossman@calpoly.edu) or Kelly McConville (k.mcconville@bucknell.edu), or to CAUSE director Matt Beckman (mdb268@psu.edu).
Pre-conference Workshops
Pre-conference workshops provide an opportunity for extensive study of a topic and interaction among participants and presenters. Workshop durations range from a half-day to two days.
In the workshop proposal form, you will need to provide speaker information, desired workshop length, and a workshop description that includes an overview of the topic, goals of the session, intended audience, pre-requisite knowledge (if any, beyond being a teacher of introductory statistics), and any technology requirements for participants. You will also need to address how the session will be structured to provide engagement and the take aways for workshop participants. Please click on the "Submit Workshop Proposal" button for more details and word limits.
Proposal deadline: December 15th, 2024
Decisions are expected to be communicated by January 20th, 2025.
Breakout Sessions
Breakout sessions (75-minutes) provide interactive engagement among participants and presenters, on topics related to the conference theme of Useful Models.
In the breakout session proposal form, you will need to provide speaker information and a session description that includes an overview of the topic, specific goals of the session, intended audience, pre-requisite knowledge (if any, beyond being a teacher of introductory statistics), and any technology requirements. You will also need to address the sessions connection to the theme, how the session will be structured to build in interaction, and the overall goals of the session. Please click on the "Submit Breakout Proposal" button for more details and word limits.
If this is your first time submitting a breakout session proposal for USCOTS, we recommend perusing session descriptions from the previous USCOTS to get a better sense of the various ways these interactive sessions can be structured.
Proposal deadline: December 15th, 2024
Decisions are expected to be communicated by January 20th, 2025.
Posters and Beyond Sessions
The poster and beyond sessions provide an opportunity for conference participants to display a poster and/or to provide a small demonstration of their work, favorite examples, activities, and teaching methods.
In the posters and beyond proposal form, you will need to provide speaker information, an abstract, and goals. You will need to address data availability and will have the opportunity to share resources associated with your project. The abstract should provide an overall summary of the work, the teaching environment (e.g., type of institution, type of students, number of students per class), and key takeaways. It is helpful, but not necessary, to include citations to support their work (included in the additional information section) and to provide evidence for efficacy in the classroom (e.g., course evaluations, pre/post surveys, measures of student learning). Please click on the "Submit Posters and Beyond" button for more details and word limits.
Proposal deadline: March 3rd, 2025
Decisions are expected to be communicated by April 7th, 2025.
Birds of a Feather Discussions
USCOTS tries to provide opportunities for interaction and discussion among statistics educators with similar interests. One mechanism for facilitating such conversations is a birds of a feather discussion, in which people with similar interests gather over lunch to discuss a particular topic.
In the birds of a feather proposal form, you will need to provide facilitator information, a discussion topic, and a brief discussion of the topic.
Proposal deadline: June 20th, 2025