Statistics Teaching Inventory

Abstract

Background. In 2007, the American Statistical Association (ASA) endorsed the initial Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education: College Report (GAISE; ASA 2007). This document, which was updated in 2016 to reflect changes in the discipline and student population, also includes recommendations on assessment and content (GAISE College Report ASA Revision Committee 2016). The six recommendations for the teaching and assessment of introductory statistics at the tertiary level include:
- Teach statistical thinking, including teach statistics as an investigative process of problem-solving and decision-making and give students experience with multivariable thinking.
- Focus on conceptual understanding.
- Integrate real data with a context and purpose.
- Foster active learning.
- Use technology to explore concepts and analyze data.
- Use assessments to improve and evaluate student learning.
Despite the publication and endorsement of GAISE more than five years ago, there is little empirical evidence about the extent to which instruction in introductory statistics courses is aligned with recommended practices.

Methods. The Statistics Teaching Inventory (STI; Zieffler et al. 2012) was originally designed to assess the teaching practices and beliefs of introductory statistics instructors. As the landscape of statistics education has changed, this instrument has gone through several revisions. In its’ current version, the Statistics Teaching Inventory (STI v. 3) is intended to: (1) assess the teaching practices of instructors of introductory statistics in a variety of institutions and departments, (2) gain insight into the extent to which current pedagogical practices align with GAISE recommendations, and (3) inform the broader statistics education community about current pedagogical, assessment, and curricular trends. To accomplish these goals, the six GAISE recommendations and analysis from previous administrations of the STI were used to guide item development.

Findings. The instrument was administered during the fall of 2019. Responses from 228 introductory statistics instructors from across the United States were obtained and analyzed to determine the extent to which teachers’ pedagogical and assessment practices were aligned with the GAISE recommendations.

Implications. The proposed poster will present the main findings from these analyses and offer some implications for future research.