RoSE Network Webinar: What is Scholarship and Research in Statistics and Data Science Education?

This talk is designed for a broad audience of statistics and data science education researchers: young scholars beginning their research journeys, scholars from other disciplines interested in transitioning to statistics and data science education research, and existing statistics and data science researchers looking for new directions for their work. The talk will begin with a description of the types of research areas and questions of interest to the field of statistics and data education research. As time allows, we will consider how to move from interesting ideas to researchable questions and how to connect ideas to existing literature to maximise the potential of your research to move the field of statistics and data science education research forward. After the formal presentation and discussant contributions, there will be time for audience questions and related discussion.

Speaker bio: Dr Jennifer J Kaplan has been an active researcher in statistics and data science education since the early 2000s. She served as the Editor of Regular Papers for the Statistics Education Research Journal (SERJ) from 2018 – 2023 and has been an Associate Editor for the Journal of Statistics and Data Science Education (JSDSE) since 2010. She is probably best known for her research in lexical ambiguity, studying the effects of the use of statistical terms that have competing meanings in everyday usage. In general, her research program combines learning in undergraduate statistics courses in HE with professional development of instructors of undergraduate students. Dr Kaplan is currently the Director of the PhD Program in Mathematics and Science Education (MSE) at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) and lives within biking distance of the geographic center of the state of Tennessee.

Discussant bio: Professor Rhys C Jones (Professor of Statistical Literacy) is an internationally recognised educational leader with extensive experience in curriculum development and theory, statistics education, and engaging students in small and large classroom settings (offline and online). Rhys is an International Statistical Institute Elected member, a member of both the Teaching Statistics Section and the Education Policy Advisory Group of the Royal Statistical Society, and a trustee of the Teaching Statistics Trust. He has held lecturing positions at Cardiff University, London Southeast College, and Birmingham City University. Over his career, he has taught in a variety of fields, at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, including statistics, quantitative methods, mathematics for science, teacher training, research methods, biomedical science, nutrition and organic chemistry, health and well-being, and clinical anatomy and physiology. His primary research contributions are in the areas of curriculum development, randomness misconceptions, and the role of context in statistics education.
 

Registration is currently open up to the time of the event.

Chair and contact: Dr Margaret MacDougall (email: margaret.macdougall@ed.ac.uk)