A Survey on the Place of Statistics in General Education in Turkey

The Turkish system of education is undergoing great structural changes. The centralized system is becoming more flexible, giving schools and students the opportunity to develop and select new courses based on the needs and interests of the students and the environment at the secondary level. Statistics appears for the first time as a separate four-hour per week elective course in the secondary programs. The changes require the development of new curricula on different subject areas and the revision of the present curricula. The mathematics curricula at all grade levels (K-11) have been revised by the National Mathematics Curriculum Development Committee established by the Ministry of Education in February 1990 and the revised curricula are being implemented in the 1991-92 school year. The place of statistics has not changed much in the revised mathematics curricula. Being a member of the above mentioned Committee, the researcher has observed that the mathematicians and the mathematics teachers do not seem to consider statistics as an area to be taught in mathematics. They mainly concentrate on algebra and geometry. It can easily be concluded that since those people do not have the necessary background and training in statistics, they view statistics topics, which interfere with their conception of mathematics, critically. Many modes of teaching and interpretation which are particular to statistics, as compared to traditional mathematics, are viewed skeptically by the mathematicians and the mathematics teachers. Considering the above situation, the researcher undertook a survey of the place of statistics in general education in Turkey. The results of this study show that the mathematics teachers who are presently responsible for teaching statistical topics at the primary and secondary levels do not have necessary background in statistics and do not possess the necessary skills for teaching statistics.