Newsletter of the Section on Statistical Education of the American Statistical Association

Report from the Section Chair

EDITORS

Newsletter for the Section on Statistical Education
Volume 11, Number 2 (Fall 2006)

Comments and suggestions for the improvement of the newsletter are most welcome, and should be sent to a member of the editorial board.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

Newsletter for the Section on Statistical Education
Volume 11, Number 2 (Fall 2006)

Awards Given at JSM in Seattle

Newsletter for the Section on Statistical Education
Volume 11, Number 2 (Fall 2006)

Several members of the section received awards at the Joint Statistics Meeting in Seattle, held August 2006.

Waller Award
Joy Jordan, now an associate professor of statistics, has been teaching at Lawrence University since fall 1999, after receiving her PhD from the University of Iowa and an undergraduate degree from Indiana University. Her teaching excellence has been recognized previously by (twice) winning the Allen T. Craig Award for Outstanding Teaching Assistant at Iowa and being awarded the Young Teacher Award after her third year at Lawrence. Each of her nominating letters for the Waller award referred to Joy’s "infectious enthusiasm" and "passion for teaching statistics." A former student wrote, "From the very first day, Dr. Jordan made sure the class saw that statistics was not just abstract, meaningless theorems and equations, but a subject that was relevant and that required creative thought... her creative assignments — from analyzing data on Dungeness crabs to writing computer programs to simulate data in an independent study — constantly challenged me to develop the critical thinking skills and creative thought needed to succeed as a graduate student and a statistician."

Planning for JSM 2007

Newsletter for the Section on Statistical Education
Volume 11, Number 2 (Fall 2006)

The National Numeracy Network

Professors Needed for AP Statistics Program

Newsletter for the Section on Statistical Education
Volume 11, Number 2 (Fall 2006)

I would like to invite you to participate in a rewarding, professional service opportunity — the weeklong AP® Statistics Exam Reading from June 3-9, 2007 in Louisville, Kentucky. After grading exams for nine years in Lincoln, Nebraska, growth in the program has forced us to move to new facilities in Louisville.

Participating in the annual reading has become an annual event for many teachers and professors. Approximately 90,000 exams were scored by 405 readers in 2006. College and university faculty members testify to the difference this experience has made in their teaching, grading, and professional life. Previous readers have said:

• The reading has been more valuable to me than any other professional development activity, conference, or workshop.

• This experience has improved my courses and led to beneficial projects and activities for my students.

• I used to think I could write good exam questions, but this process has increased my awareness of and sensitivity to many new issues.

• The reading has become an annual meeting place for me and my friends.

Report from the Advisory Committee on Teacher Enhancement (ACTE)

Newsletter for the Section on Statistical Education
Volume 11, Number 2 (Fall 2006)

The Advisory Committee on Teacher Enhancement is charged with advising the ASA board on matters involving teaching and statistics education. The ACTE includes 6 regular members appointed by the president and the chairs of other ASA committees with education related charges. This includes the Stat Ed Section chair and the chairs of the joint committees that work with the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, the Mathematical Association of America, and the American Mathematical Association of Two Year Colleges.

At our recent meeting in Seattle, two topics were of primary concern. The first is our concern that the ASA become very visible and vocal with respect to national education measures. The recently ASA-endorsed Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education (GAISE) have helped in this effort by providing guidelines that are useful in state-level discussions of educational standards. But unless well-informed statisticians are involved in drafting state standards, these guidelines will not be used. We expressed concern that the ASA, unlike the MAA, was not asked to endorse a trio of bills designed to strengthen math and science education. We will be examining ways to become more visible nationally so that we are consulted by policy makers. We are also concerned about statewide and nationwide attempts to create graduation tests in mathematics; we feel it is vitally important that the ASA have a voice in the design of such exams. Martha Aliaga, ASA Director of Programs, reported that she has been attending meetings of the Math Panel, a national policy-advising panel that might play a role in these issues.

We also discussed a more pleasant problem. The number of members involved in statistics education has grown sufficiently large recently (the Stat Ed section recently passed the 1000 members mark) that communication is becoming a problem. There is a growing sense that different groups within the ASA could benefit if they were more aware of each others' efforts. Also, with growing competition for strategic initiative funds, the statistics education community might benefit by joining efforts on initiatives which it feels are of special importance. To help overcome potential communication challenges, the ACTE is drafting a position paper. Our intent is to update this paper annually and make it public so that the community is aware of the committee's goals and mission for the year. Another proposal was to establish space on the ASA web page devoted to gathering and disseminating information about the many educational activities from the various educational groups within the ASA.

The ACTE was pleased to be invited to report to the board this year at JSM. We presented to the board a number of ACTE-sponsored member initiatives that have gone on to become successful programs. Many of these programs came from a 2001 brain-storming session hosted by Bob Stephenson, who was ACTE chair at the time. One such program is INSPIRE, a distance-learning course that includes a week-long workshop and is designed for first-time AP Statistics teachers. INSPIRE taught two cohorts of AP Stats teachers and will now go "public" in the winter of 2007. The US Conference on Teaching Statistics was held at the Ohio State University in 2005 and hosted over 300 educators from two-year colleges, high schools, four-year colleges and universities. The next USCOTS will be in May, 2007. The TEAMS conference, held at the University of Georgia in 2003, hosted 19 teams. Each team consisted of (at least) one high school teacher, a high school administrator, and a college educator. Teams were charged with developing a plan to improve statistics education in their community. The TEAMS conference led to the establishment of the GAISE, which have since been endorsed by the ASA and NCTM. CAUSE, the Consortium for the Advancement of Undergraduate Statistics Education, also began as an ACTE-supported SI, and has since grown to become a national consortium that hosts the Causeweb — an online set of resources for teaching and research — and the Causeway workshops, which are teaching statistics pedagogy and content to teachers around the country.

The ACTE heard a report about the Meeting Within a Meeting (MWM) that will be held at the next JSM in Salt Lake City. The MWM, proposed by Martha Aliaga, will offer one-day workshops designed to help local teachers (K-12) better teach statistics. The MWM will offer an opportunity for local chapters to get further involved with statistics education at the local level. The MWM will also help feed STEW (Statistics Teaching and Education Website). STEW is an ACTE-sponsored initiative to disseminate quality lesson plans for K-12 teachers.

What does the future hold? We're looking forward to an initiative to improve TA training. At many universities, undergraduates learn most of their statistics from teaching assistants, and the ACTE is teaming with the Stat Ed section to begin to investigate ways in which institutions can share successful methods for TA training. Look for a luncheon roundtable discussion in Salt Lake in 2007 and a panel discussion in Denver in 2008. We're also working on a proposal, again together with the Stat Ed Section, to produce guidelines and materials to prepare K-12 teachers to teach statistics. This initiative will mesh nicely with the new ICMI (International Commission on Mathematics Instruction) and the IASE (International Association of Statistics Education) study "Statistics Education in School Mathematics: Challenges for Teaching and Teacher Education" and, of course, builds nicely on the GAISE.

Newsletter for the Section on Statistical Education
Volume 11, Number 2 (Fall 2006)

The second biennial United States Conference on Teaching Statistics (USCOTS 07) will be held on May 17-19, 2007, at the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, hosted by CAUSE, the Consortium for the Advancement of Undergraduate Statistics Education. The target audience for USCOTS is teachers of undergraduate and AP statistics, from any discipline or type of institution. Teachers from two-year colleges are particularly encouraged to attend.

The theme for USCOTS 07 is Taking Statistics Teaching to the Next Level. 'Next level' has many interpretations, such as developing a second course, gaining more confidence in teaching statistics, moving students beyond statistical literacy to statistical thinking, and using the latest technology to improve teaching and learning. USCOTS is a 'working conference' with many opportunities for hands-on activities, demonstrations, networking, sharing ideas, and receiving the latest information on research and best practices in teaching statistics. Leaders in statistics education will give plenary talks, including Jessica Utts, Paul Velleman, Dick DeVeaux, Allan Rossman, and Mike Shaughnessy.

We are calling for proposals for the Idea Exchange Forum (formerly known as the spotlight sessions) for USCOTS. This forum provides an opportunity for conference participants to display, demonstrate, present, and discuss their favorite examples, activities, methods, and ideas. Due to limited space, the Idea Exchange Forum will be limited to 80 presenters. Abstracts submitted before February 1, 2007, will receive feedback from the session organizers by March 1. Final abstracts should be submitted by April 1, 2007. Abstracts submitted between February 1 and April 1 will be considered for selection, but will not receive feedback from the session organizers. All applicants will be notified whether they were selected by April 17.

Registration for USCOTS 07 is $150 before April 1, 2007, and $200 thereafter. Registration grants are available on a limited basis (does not include hotel and travel). The registration fee (which includes conference lunches and a banquet dinner) will be waived for a limited number of participants for whom the fee would be a burden. Priority will be given to graduate students planning a career in teaching, high school teachers, and to those who participate in the Idea Exchange Forum. When you register for USCOTS 07 you can submit your Idea Exchange Forum abstract and/or apply for a registration grant.

JSE – Comments from the Next Editor

Newsletter for the Section on Statistical Education
Volume 11, Number 2 (Fall 2006)

Joint SOCR CAUSEway Continuing Education Workshop 2007

Newsletter for the Section on Statistical Education
Volume 11, Number 2 (Fall 2006)

The 2007 joint SOCR/CAUSEway continuing education workshop aims at demonstrating the functionality, utilization and assessment of the current UCLA, SOCR and CAUSEweb resources. This workshop will be of most value to AP teachers and college instructors of probability and statistics classes who have interests in exploring novel IT-based approaches for enhancing statistics education. The workshop will provide an interactive forum for exchange of ideas and recommendations for strategies to integrate computers, modern pedagogical approaches, the Internet and new student assessment techniques.

Group Discussion in Online Statistics Courses

Newsletter for the Section on Statistical Education
Volume 11, Number 2 (Fall 2006)

STATCOM: Engaging Statistics Students in Their Communities

Newsletter for the Section on Statistical Education
Volume 11, Number 2 (Fall 2006)

Statistics in the Community (STATCOM) is a student-driven pro bono statistical consulting organization started at Purdue University's Department of Statistics in 2001. Recently, STATCOM was awarded an ASA Member Initiatives Grant to promote the development of similar programs at other colleges and universities. This grant is sponsored by the Central Indiana Chapter, the Section on Statistical Education, and the Section on Statistical Consulting. STATCOM offers statistical advice and expertise free of charge to governmental and nonprofit groups. These services include:

• Designing and analyzing surveys
• Using data to inform decision making
• Identifying trends and relationships in data
• Finding meaningful information in large data sets
• Designing and conducting educational activities at schools and community events.

Students benefit greatly from pro bono statistical consulting. They gain practical experience, acquire written and oral communication skills, interact with professionals in the field, and develop a sense of volunteerism even before they become practicing statisticians. By introducing a service learning component, students can apply statistical methods learned in the classroom to real-life statistical problems.

STATCOM at Purdue is promoting the development of other pro bono consulting programs at other colleges in universities. In fact, two other STATCOMs have already been established: STATCOM at University of Washington and STATCOM at Cornell University! STATCOM at Purdue is currently serving as a resource to other colleges and universities interested in starting similar programs. Ultimately, the goal is to establish a formal network among all pro bono statistical consulting programs.

STATCOM at Purdue can send you a packet of materials that can help with the development of a pro bono statistical consulting service. Members of STATCOM can also visit your college or university to talk to interested students and faculty.

If you are interested in learning more about STATCOM at Purdue or would like to start an organization at your own university, please contact:

Announcement and Call for Conference Papers

Newsletter for the Section on Statistical Education
Volume 11, Number 2 (Fall 2006)