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.
The CAUSE Research Group is supported in part by a member initiative grant from the American Statistical Association’s Section on Statistics and Data Science Education