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Newsletter for the Section on Statistical Education
Volume 6, Number 1 (Winter 2000)
Please Read this and Act Now!
As you may know, the Journal of Statistics Education became an official ASA journal this year. JSE was the first electronic journal in statistics, and it is the only all-electronic journal sponsored by the ASA. Members of the Section on Statistical Education have found JSE to be both an avenue for publishing educationally related research and teaching materials, as well as a valuable resource. JSE publishes articles, datasets, interactive teaching materials, and what are known as "Teaching Bits" -- abstracts of articles on teaching statistics and summaries of articles from the popular press that make good classroom examples.
Prior to this year, JSE received funding from private sources and was free online to anyone who took the time to visit the website. This year, when it became an ASA journal, a MODEST subscription fee was instituted to help support the continuation of JSE. A subscription fee of $10 per calendar year (for both ASA members and non-members) gives the subscriber access to all issues from the current calendar year. At the end of the year, the current issues are moved to the archive, which is freely available.
This next year is a critical time for JSE, as ASA evaluates its commitment to the journal. It is important that we show our support by subscribing. I was dismayed earlier this year to receive my ASA membership renewal and not see JSE among the journals that I could subscribe to easily with my renewal. And, just this week I received a nice looking ASA membership card in the mail, with a postcard that I could send back to add ASA journal subscriptions -- and again JSE isn't listed! So, don't wait for it to come to you! Please, log on to the ASA home page and show your support for JSE by subscribing for the 2000 calendar year. You'll be glad you did.
Roxy Peck, College of Science and Mathematics, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, CA 93407; (805) 756-2971; rpeck@calpoly.edu
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Newsletter for the Section on Statistical Education
Volume 6, Number 1 (Winter 2000)
Comments and suggestions for the improvement of the newsletter are most welcome, and should be sent to a member of the editorial board.
Terry King
Department of Mathematics & Statistics
Northwest Missouri State University
Maryville, Missouri 64468-6001
(660) 562-1805
Fax: (660) 562-1188
tlking@mail.nwmissouri.edu
Joan Garfield
Department of Educational Psychology
University of Minnesota
332 Burton Hall
128 Pillsbury Dr., S.E.
Minneapolis MN 55455
(612) 625-0337
Fax: (612) 624-8241
jbg@maroon.tc.umn.edu
Tom Moore
Department of Mathematics and Computer Science
Grinnell College
Grinnell IA 50112
(515) 269-4206
Fax: (515) 269-4984
mooret@grinnell.edu
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Newsletter for the Section on Statistical Education
Volume 6, Number 1 (Winter 2000)
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Newsletter for the Section on Statistical Education
Volume 6, Number 1 (Winter 2000)
Information about the following Joint Statistical
Meetings may be obtained from the
ASA office:
732 North Washington Street
Alexandria, VA 22314-1943
Phone: (703)684-1221
E-mail: meetings@amstat.org.
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Newsletter for the Section on Statistical Education
Volume 6, Number 1 (Winter 2000)
The Section on Statistical Education will be the primary sponsor for three invited papers sessions at the Indianapolis meetings. The topics are diverse, and I'm sure that the speakers will be outstanding.
Session 1: Distance Learning in Statistics
Education
This session fits the theme "Celebrate
Diversity in Statistics" because distance education has the
potential to reach students who are not able to attend
traditional courses or who are not successful in a
traditional classroom format. The presenters have all
developed and used statistics materials in a distance
context, and will share their experiences and
philosophies.
The session was organized by John Holcomb at Youngstown State University. The speakers include Paul Velleman, from Cornell University, David Lane from Rice University, and Tom Boardman, Colorado State University. Don Edwards from the University of South Carolina will be the discussant.
Session 2: The Teaching of Statistics Across
Disciplines and Departments.
This session consists
of a panel discussion by statisticians who teach in
different departments and disciplines. The panel was
originally based on an NSF project conducted in 1998-1999
that gathered baseline data on the current teaching of
introductory statistics courses, as four members of the
panel participated as consultants to this project.
Participants will describe current trends and issues in
teaching the introductory course in their department or
discipline and will comment specifically on desired student
outcomes, content that is taught, the use of technology,
instructional methods, and forms of student assessment.
Panelists will represent the fields of mathematics,
psychology, education, and business. In addition, a
statistician in a statistics department that teaches
courses for these disciplines will share her perspectives
on teaching statistics across the disciplines.
Joan Garfield from the University of Minnesota has organized this panel discussion. The panelists are Jackie Dietz, North Carolina State University, Betsy Becker from Michigan State University, Dex Whittinghill, Rowan University, Jon Cryer, from the University of Iowa, and Gary McClelland from the University of Colorado.
Session 3: Using Technology to Develop Statistical
Reasoning and Thinking.
There is a large variety
of technology that can be used in the statistics classroom:
graphing calculators, statistics packages, and simulation
software. The speakers in this session will describe
experiences in the use of technology to promote conceptual
understanding and statistical reasoning. The speakers
will consider the characteristics of activities that
promote conceptual development and understanding. The
session will also address the issue of assessment: How do
we know that technology has improved student understanding
and thinking?
Organized by Bob delMas from the University of Minnesota, the speakers in this session include John T. Behrens and Gene V. Glass from Arizona State University, Jackie Miller from the Ohio State University, Carl Lee from Central Michigan University, and Geoff Cumming, Neil Thomason, and Sue Finch, representing La Trobe University and the University of Melbourne, Australia. Beth Chance, from California Polytechnic State University, will be the discussant.
We're now in the process of soliciting abstracts for Topic Contributed sessions and Regular Contributed papers sessions, and I'm also looking for volunteers to serve as session chairs. Please contact me if you would like to get involved in making the Statistical Education Sessions at JSM 2000 a success.
See you in Indy in August!
Tom Short, JSM 2000 Program Chair, ASA Section on Statistical Education, Department of Mathematical Sciences, Villanova University Villanova, PA 19085-1699; (610) 519-6961, thomas.short@villanova.edu
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Newsletter for the Section on Statistical Education
Volume 6, Number 1 (Winter 2000)
With the support of a grant from the Pew Foundation, five statisticians (first five co-authors), two instructional designers (Lane and Stout), an assessment specialist (Zimmaro) and a project consultant (Lenze) are working as a team to design a new technology-based introductory statistics course. This course will significantly increase the role of active learning among students in a highly enrolled pre-calculus introductory course with large class sizes. Currently, it is taught in four large classes (240 students each) meeting weekly three times in lectures and twice in recitations, conducted by TA's (three TA's each handling two sections). While teaching the course currently requires four instructors and 12 TAs, the restructured course will still involve four instructors, but the number of TAs will be reduced from 12 to six, resulting in a substantial reduction in instructional costs.
The redesigned course will feature a weekly combination of one large group meeting (LGM), two technology classroom meetings (i.e., in computer studio labs -- CSL's), and technology-based independent learning (a web-based set of course materials). The CSL's will have 30 PC's with two students at each PC to work as a unit; two of these units will be used to form a group. The combination of smaller-classes and computer-mediated data workshops will enable faculty to have more one-on-one contact with individual students. Tutorial labs (in CSL's) will be available for students who miss classes or need remedial help.
The new setting will make it possible for faculty to more readily address the different needs and learning styles of students, and for students to be challenged according to their own skill levels. The CSL's will enable students to work in teams, which will generate more active participation. There will be frequent hands-on experience with statistical analysis and with the visualization of concepts.
To provide motivation for students to focus on learning the concepts on the web and to assess their understanding of them, readiness assessment tests (RAT's) will be given in the LGM's individually and in groups prior to the CSL's. The RATS will consist of 10-15 items with 3 points allotted per item that can be distributed to more than one answer (to reflect uncertainty of the understanding). Immediately following these individualized tests, students will meet as a group to re-answer the same questions and receive a group score. In this way, RAT's provide an additional opportunity for learning concepts through group discussions.
Assessment of the restructured course will be extensive. A test of statistical concepts, consisting of 24 items, has been developed to measure student understanding of statistics prior to the course, at the conclusion of the course (as part of the final exam), and at the beginning of follow-up courses for which statistics is a prerequisite. Attitudinal surveys have been similarly constructed. Both the knowledge test and attitude survey are (and will be) administered in the current (traditional) course and the restructured course.
What was our motivation for undertaking this effort? There were a large number of considerations. We believed that: (a) by using available technology we could reduce the cost of instruction by about 30% while maintaining or increasing student learning. (b) by making the course far more learner-centered and interactive students would acquire a deeper understanding of the critical concepts and skills central to this course. (c) the present format did not address the broad range of differences in learning styles and in quantitative skills of the students enrolled in the course. Students with weak skills need more individual attention and more opportunity for group collaboration. Students with strong skills would benefit from having more opportunity to explore the material fully. (d) our current format does not encourage active participation. It is difficult for students to ask questions, to discuss the material, or to collaborate with other students. There is not enough hands-on experience with data analysis and collection.
We are excited about our project and look forward to seeing how our efforts turn out!
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Newsletter for the Section on Statistical Education
Volume 6, Number 1 (Winter 2000)
This was another tremendous growth year for AP Statistics, with the number of exams increasing from about 15,500 in 1998 to approximately 24,700 operational exams and 500 alternate exams in 1999. The exam again consisted of a multiple-choice section and a free response section. The free response section had the same structure as in previous years (5 shorter questions and a longer investigative task). The multiple-choice section was lengthened from 35 to 40 questions.
The 1999 reading of the free response questions took place at University of Nebraska. A total of 17 leaders and 105 readers scored the exam. As in previous years, the free response questions were graded on a five point scale (0 - 4) using holistic rubrics. Table leaders revised rubrics during the three days prior to the reading, and training packets were prepared. Sufficient time was allocated during the reading to train readers and to allow them to practice on selected student responses. The table leaders felt that this method was successful and allowed for consistent and fair scoring of responses to questions for which several different approaches could be correct.
We expect another big increase in the number of students taking the exam in 2000. The Educational Testing Service (ETS) is estimating 38,000 students will take the exam! As a result, we will be looking for new readers, especially folks that teach introductory statistics at a college or university. The reading is great fun (really!) and you get to work with an amazing group of people. ETS covers expenses, travel, and pays a stipend. If you are interested, you can apply to be a reader by going to the College Board web site (http://www.collegeboard.org/ap/teachers/) and then selecting the link to "The AP Reading" and then to "Complete the Faculty Consultant Application".
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Newsletter for the Section on Statistical Education
Volume 6, Number 1 (Winter 2000)
A two-day statistics conference, "Beyond the Formula III", was held August 5-6, 1999 at Monroe Community College in Rochester New York. This was the third in a series of conferences started in 1997 by Bob Johnson and his colleagues at Monroe Community College. The aim of these conferences is to present new ideas relating to the four basic issues on teaching of statistics: application to real world problems, use of technology, teaching methodologies, and curriculum. Each conference concentrates on one of these four issues but includes sessions on all four. The first conference in 1997 focused on teaching methodologies with keynote speaker David Moore, the second in 1998 focused on curriculum with Jessica Utts as keynote speaker. The third, this year, which we will briefly describe, focused on technology with keynote speaker Robin Lock. More details about the Beyond the Formula conferences can be found at http://www.monroecc.edu/depts/math/beyond1.htm.
The indefatigable Robin Lock actually gave four talks: "How has technology changed the teaching of statistics?", "Where do we go from here", "Some Tasks for Evaluating Statistical Software", "WWW Resources for Teaching Statistics" and "Some Tasks for Evaluating Statistical Software". Robin teaches statistics at St. Lawrence College in Canton, New York. He is known for his beautifully organized and informative talks. You will find summaries of his WWW resources talk and other talks he has given on statistical education at his web site http://it.stlawu.edu/~rlock/.
Some of the talks were in the traditional lecture format and others were for smaller groups permitting hands-on sessions with PC's having internet connections. David Mathiason from Rochester Institute of Technology gave two such sessions in which he talked about making use of a laptop in the classroom, web resources and how they can be used. Participants were able to explore sites mentioned in the talk and download interesting data sets identified in the talk.
Representing industry, Jason Lucas from Harris Interactive in Rochester talked about some of the real world problems involved in sampling and Patty Cyr from Eastman Kodak talking about what you really need to know about your data to draw conclusions.
As you are probably aware, publishers are beginning to introduce statistics books on the web. Gary McClelland talked about his forthcoming web book "Seeing Statistics" to be published by Duxbury Press. For more information about this book see http://www.tellduxbury.com/seestatframeset.htm. Robert Heckard talked about the forthcoming web book "CyberStats" published by the new web publishing company CyberGnostics. This is a cooperative effort by a team of about twenty teachers of statistics including Robert Heckard. Jessica Utts is the Editor in Chief and also a contributor for this book. More information about this book is available at: http://www.cyberk.com/index.html. Both books make heavy use of the new teaching resource: JAVA applets.
Fred Djang, who teaches at Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford Connecticut, gave two laboratory presentation in which he told us how he uses the TI-83 calculator in the statistics classroom. His talks included a hands-on tour of the TI-83. Kunita Cooper from Minitab Inc. gave two sessions on tips and tricks on how to get the most out of using Minitab in a statistics class.
Laurie Snell from Dartmouth College gave a laboratory session on the resources available from the Chance web site http://www.dartmouth.edu/~chance. He emphasized Chance News and the Chance Videos. Participants were provided a CD-rom containing the Chance Videos to view after the session. (Time was provided after laboratory sessions for further explorations.) To receive this CD-rom free send a note to Laurie Snell at jlsnell@dartmouth.edu.
Roxy Peck from California Polytechnic State University, in San Luis Obispo, California talked about their approach to teaching statistics and other courses in a "studio setting", a special room designed to optimize the multimedia approach to teaching. In their introductory statistics course they use a variety of software packages, CD-ROM and video's (Against all odds, Minitab, ActivStats, An Electronic Companion to Statistics, Netscape, SAS, etc). For each topic they choose the one that is most appropriate for that topic. You can learn more about this course by going to http://statweb.cosam.lab.calpoly.edu/peck/. See in particular Roxy Peck's "Grinnell talk".
Lori Thombs from the University of South Carolina described their experience adding a laboratory to the traditional elementary statistics course. She presented examples of hands-on laboratory experiments for students who work in teams to design the experiment, carry it out and analyze the data.
Finally, no meeting on statistical education is complete without the wisdom of George Cobb. For this meeting, George gave us an after-dinner speech in which he asked the question: Are we paying so much attention to "how" we teach -- computers, the web, activities, groups, projects -- that we are neglecting "what" we teach?
Bob Johnson and his colleagues are already hard at work preparing "Beyond the Formula 4" which will, indeed, have curriculum as its main emphasis.
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Newsletter for the Section on Statistical Education
Volume 6, Number 1 (Winter 2000)
As its name indicates the ISI conference is held every two years. The session in Helsinki was the third ISI session that I have attended since 1993. It has been amazing to see the growth in the number of ISI sessions concerning statistics education over these last six years. This year, there were seven Invited Paper Meetings organized directly by the International Association for Statistical Education (IASE), which is the statistics education arm of ISI. Besides these Invited Paper Meetings there were also several other invited sessions relevant to statistics education. In addition, there were five contributed paper sessions with a focus on statistics education. The short summaries of the Invited Paper Meetings organized by IASE given below are based on summaries prepared by the Session organizers or their designee. The complete summaries are available in the 1999 IASE Review newsletter which can be found at http://www.swin.edu.au/maths/iase/newsletters.html. I wish to thank Brian Phillips, President of IASE, for allowing me to use these summaries when preparing this article. Brian and the writers of the complete summaries should be considered as co-authors of this article. This article will end with a preview of IASE activities over the next few years and information on how to join IASE.
SUMMARIES OF THE INVITED PAPER MEETINGS
Complete copies of the papers summarized here, plus some of
the discussants' remarks and almost all of the other
invited and contributed papers presented at the Biennial
Session, can be found at http://www.stat.fi/isi99/proceedings.html.
IPM 58. Statistical education and significance tests
controversy.
Organizer: Carmen Batanero
(Spain). The first paper in this session was Teaching
Hypothesis Testing. Can it Still be Useful? by Henrik
Dahl (Norway). He discussed the teaching of key concepts.
He also described problems in teaching these concepts and
suggested some meaningful examples that can help students
to understand the basic concepts behind statistical tests.
The second paper was Some Empirical Evidence on Learning
Difficulties about Testing Hypotheses by Angustias
Vallecillos (Spain). She presented a survey of the
experimental research on this topic, as well as a summary
of the results in her own comprehensive assessment of
undergraduates' learning difficulties concerning
statistical tests. She also pointed out some difficulties
and errors that underlie the problems described and that
should be taken into account to improve the teaching and
learning of the topics. Students' conceptions about key
concepts in statistical tests were also described. The
third paper was Beyond the Significance Test
Controversy: Prime Time for Bayes? by Bruno
Lecoutre (France). To solve the paradoxical situation
around statistical tests, he suggested that a positive
agreement on the procedures that bypass the common misuses
of statistical tests is needed. He proposed that the
Bayesian philosophy should become an attractive challenge
for the scientists, applied statisticians and statistics
instructors of the 21st century.
IPM 59. Teaching and training multivariate
data-analysis.
Organizer: Helena Bacelar Nicolau (Portugal). The
first paper in this session was Introduction à la
Classification en Sciences Humaines" by Georges Le
Calvé (France) who described his approach to
teaching an introductory course on cluster analysis for
students in the social and behavioral sciences. Despite
their weak background in mathematics, these students can
easily go from analyzing data and learning from real
examples to being able to understand what a cluster is and
the abstract notion of distance. The second paper was
Discussion, Debate, and Disagreement: Teaching Multiple
Regression by Case Discussion by Peter G. Bryant
(USA). He reported his recent experiences in teaching
courses in statistics, and in particular on multiple
regression, in business schools. He is using the classroom
time for debate and discussion rather than lecture. The
third paper was Teaching Multivariate Data Analysis in
the Fields of Biology and Ecology by Hans-Peter Baeumer
(Germany). He discussed the relevant role of and
techniques for the teaching of multivariate data analysis
in these areas. An applications-oriented approach that
teaches students how to efficiently collect experimental
data as well as how to reliably analyze multivariate data
obtained in laboratory and field experiments was
described. The last paper was Some Remarks in Teaching
the Correlation Coefficient by Kameo Matusita (Japan).
He discussed several suitable counter-examples and how
these lead to some important matters that need to be
attended to when teaching correlation. Important mistakes
that can arise when interpreting correlation coefficients,
graphical representations, and a simulated comparative
study between the affinity coefficient and the correlation
coefficient were also discussed.
IPM 60. Statistical education using flexible learning approaches.
Organizer: Agostino Di Ciaccio (Italy). The first paper was Teaching Statistics with Internet: A Survey of Available Resources and the St@tNet Project by Gilbert Saporta (France). Although an oral presentation was not given a complete written paper is still available at the proceedings web address given above. The second paper was Why do Students Find Statistics so Difficult? by James B. Ramsay (USA). He maintained that a major problem in learning statistics is that statistics and probability theory are essentially acausal. Students find it more difficult to understand statistics than other disciplines that are inherently casual. Implications for the teaching of statistics together with practical suggestions for their implementation were also discussed. The third paper was Multimedia Statistical Labs & Toolkit (TILE ) by Deborah Nolan and Duncan Temple Lang (USA). The TILE project consists of two parts: statistics labs that are designed to teach students how to think critically (and statistically) about quantitative problems that are real and important to them; a toolkit, which provides a flexible and extendible environment where instructors can develop portable teaching applications. Exercises, simulations, problem solving and even animated adventures and puzzles are used to involve the students.
IPM 61. Statistical education for life.
Organizer: Brian Phillips (Australia). The first
paper Justice by the Numbers: Educating Judicial
Decision Makers by Mary Gray and Nawar Al-Shara (USA)
was presented by Hasan Hamdan. In the paper they showed
how the testimony of statistical experts has become
increasingly important in many legal situations and that
judges often have great discretion in deciding what
evidence can be admitted and ultimately in the validity and
weight given to such evidence. They concluded that although
there is no specific code of ethics binding statisticians,
general principles of good teaching would preclude the
complex and muddled presentations that too often appear.
It is the role of the statistical expert to convince the
finders-of-fact that the evidence can be relied upon. The
second paper was Official Statistics and the Outside
World by Vincenzo Lo Moro (Italy). He discussed the
issue of the increasing demand for official statistics from
National Statistical Institutes and the satisfaction of the
users in the workplace with the information and services
they receive. The paper aimed at suggesting an evolutionary
model for the statistical education that is required by the
increased consumption of official statistics. Strategies
to reduce the disappointment of users of statistics were
also discussed. The third paper was Childhood Leukemia
-- Communicating with a Worried Public by Amanda Burls
(UK). This paper describes a case-history of a successful
attempt by a local health authority in the United Kingdom
to deal with high levels of public anxiety about a cluster
of childhood leukemia in Northampton by a risk
communication strategy. This involved working with the
community and media and producing a written report for
parents and later working with the BBC to produce a program
on disease clusters.
IPM 62. Issues involved in the assessment and
evaluation of student learning of statistics.
Organizer: Joan Garfield (USA) Reported by:
Joe Wisenbaker (USA). The first paper was How to Assess
Large Groups with the Minimal Amount of Resources but
Preserving Quality by Susan Starkings (UK). The
advantages and disadvantages of three different approaches
to assessing student learning in the context of large
classes: multiple-choice exams, group work and in-class
presentations were viewed from the perspectives of
diagnostic, formative and summative assessment. Attention
was devoted to the level of effort and preparation required
on the part of the instructor, the depth of knowledge that
can be ascertained, and difficulties posed for the
student. The second paper was A Model of Classroom
Assessment in Action: Using Assessments to Improve Student
Learning and Statistical Reasoning by Beth Chance, Joan
Garfield and Robert delMas (USA). It provided an in-depth
examination of an on-going study of the effectiveness of a
computer simulation activity focused on constructing and
visualizing the concept of sampling distributions. The
perspective on assessment that guided their work was
directed toward the long-term improvement of their computer
program and a search for critical features that might serve
to enhance students' understanding as assessed through
graphics-based test items. The third paper was
Assessment in Statistics Using the Personal Computer
by Giuseppe Cicchitelli, Francesco Bartolucci &
Antonio Forcina (Italy). The system described in this paper
was developed in an effort to supplement an existing
assessment approach relying exclusively on oral
examinations. The testing model employed is a large item
bank with individual items calibrated with respect to item
discrimination and difficulty and permits the selection of
more probing questions in context.
IPM 63. Visualization as an educational tool.
Organizer: Larry Weldon (Canada). The first paper
was Graphical Excellence -- The Importance of Sound
Principles and Practices for Effective Communication by
Thomas Bradstreet (USA). He emphasized that statistics
education needs to stress graphical communication more
seriously than in the past, since graphics are no longer
merely a frill to supplement numerical results but rather a
basic form of quantitative communication. The second paper
was Emphasizing Visualization and Activities in Teaching
Introductory Statistics by Interactive Multimedia by
Hans-Joachim Mittag (Germany). The paper discussed his
multi-media statistical education computer package and the
pedagogical principles underlying it. He showed how to
combine sound, real data sets, pictures and graphics with
optional text buttons to provide students with diverse
preparation information at the appropriate level. The
third paper was Visualization for Teaching All Steps of
Data-Based Scientific Research by Clovis Peres
(Brazil). He proposed that an additional emphasis on the
scientific method, with its circular pattern of objective
---> data ---> conclusion ---> reconsideration of
objective, would help students to bridge the gap between
their technical learning and the needs of the scientific
world.
IPM 42. Statistical training of people working in and
with official statistics.
Organizers: Carol Joyce Blumberg (USA) and
René H. M. Smulders (The Netherlands. The first
paper was The Dissemination of Statistical Literacy
Among Citizens and Public Administration Directors by
Luigi Biggeri and Alberto Zuliani (Italy). They examined
the statistical literacy needs of various users and
recipients including policy makers in both the public and
private sectors, as well as among the mass media and
teachers at the primary and secondary levels. The paper
also contained a description of literacy activities that
have occurred in Italy including a national conference in
1997, a "Census of Children" to be carried out in 1999 to
2001, seminars for journalists and various public
administrators, and the preparation of materials for the
public in print, on television, and on the Internet.
Further, an introduction to the World Numeracy Programme
was given. The second paper was Impact of the Internet
on Official Statistics: New Opportunities and Dilemmas for
Training by Lea Bregar and Irena Ograjensek
(Slovenia). They discussed the Course on European Economic
Statistics (CEES) which they have developed in co-operation
with TES (Training of European Statisticians) Institute and
colleagues at the University of Ljubljana and in Sofia,
Bulgaria. This on-line course uses the Internet and
hyper-media to help increase the quality and efficiency of
users' access to information, flexibility for exploring and
using official statistics, and integration of learning
experiences and knowledge. The third paper was New and
Emerging Demands for Statistical Training in Response to
User Needs: Meeting the Human Resource Challenge in the
Caribbean by Linda Hewitt (Trinidad). The paper begins
with an explanation of how market globalization and the
increased use of computers and other technologies have made
it vital for the Caribbean (and other developing regions)
to produce useful economic, demographic, and social
statistics. Yet, at the University level statistics is
still not regarded as a priority area and given a status
similar to that of Economics, Engineering, the Natural and
Medical Sciences or even the Humanities. The paper
discussed why this has occurred and talked about some
possible first steps for improving the situation.
FUTURE IASE ACTIVITIES
July 31-August 6, 2000 -- International Congress on Mathematics Education -- Makuhari, Japan. IASE has been involved in the planning of several sessions for ICME-9. Further information on these sessions can be found at http://www.swin.edu.au/maths/iase/icme9.html. Further information on ICME-9 can be found at: http://www.ma.kagu.sut.ac.jp/~icme-9.
August 7-11, 2000 -- Round Table Conference: Training Researchers in the Use of Statistics -- Tokyo, Japan. This is a conference that can be attended by invitation only. All invitations have already been extended. There will be 25 papers presented. The proceedings of the conference will be made available to the public. Further information is available at http://www.ugr.es/~batanero/iasert.htm.
August 22-29, 2001 -- ISI 53 Biennial Session -- Seoul, Korea. IASE will be involved in the organization of 11 Invited Paper Meetings at the ISI Session in Seoul, Korea: 1) Forum: IASE and Statistics Education in Developing Countries 2) Undergraduate Level Statistics Programmes 3) The Future of Statistics Education Research 4) Research on Teaching Statistics at School and University Levels 5) Undergraduate Statistics Education in Non-Statistics Degree Programmes 6) Continuing Statistics Education in the Workplace 7) Postgraduate Training of Statisticians 8) Women's Contributions to Leadership in Statistical Education 9) Technology in Statistics Education 10) The Role of Official Statistics in the University Curriculum and 11) Education and the Internet: Effective Structures . Further information on these IASE sessions (including the organizers) can be found at http://www.swin.edu.au/maths/iase/isi53.html
Further information on the ISI Biennial Session can be found at http://www.nso.go.kr/isi2001.
July 6-12, 2002 -- International Conference on Teaching Statistics -- Durban, South Africa. This is the major international conference in Statistics Education that is held every 4 years. Planning for ICOTS-6 is well under way. Details can be found at the ICOTS-6 web site at http://www.beeri.org.il/icots6.
MEMBERSHIP IN IASE
As you can see from all of the activities listed above,
IASE is very active, despite the fact that it is only 7
years old. It is the only global organization whose main
focus is Statistics Education. If you are not already a
member of IASE, I would strongly urge you to consider
joining IASE. At the present exchange rates, dues are only
US $24.00. As part of your membership in IASE you will
become a member of an international community of statistics
educators. This will entitle you to receive the IASE
Review newsletter (devoted exclusively to Statistics
Education) and the ISI Newsletter which deals
with all areas of Statistics at the international level.
Furthermore, you can receive the International
Statistical Review journal and Short Book
Reviews newsletter as well as registration for
conferences organized by the IASE at reduced rates. I have
found all of these very helpful in my teaching of
statistics courses. For further information about the IASE
and for a copy of the IASE Membership form go to the IASE
web site at http://www.cbs.nl/isi/iase.htm.
This site also has many links useful to anyone involved in
statistics education.
If you cannot find any of the information at the web sites I have given in this article or if you have any other questions about IASE activities, please feel free to contact either Brian Phillips (President of IASE) at School of Mathematical Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology, PO Box 218, Hawthorn 3122, AUSTRALIA, Fax: (61) 3-9819-0821, email: bphillips@swin.edu.au or me at Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Winona State University, Winona MN 55987-5838, Phone: (507) 457-5589, Fax: (507) 457-5376, email: wncarolj@vax2.winona.msus.edu.
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Newsletter for the Section on Statistical Education
Volume 6, Number 1 (Winter 2000)
The First International Research Forum on Statistical Reasoning, Thinking and Literacy, was held in Kibbutz Be'eri), located in the beautiful northwest Negev hills, near the Gaza Strip, a one hour drive from Tel-Aviv, in Israel.
This gathering took place under the umbrellas of the International Study Group for Research on Learning Probability and Statistics and the International Association for Statistics Education. It was sponsored by the University of Minnesota, the Maurice and Gabriela Goldschleger Conference Foundation at the Weizmann Institute of Science, and Kibbutz Be'eri. The Forum was co-chaired by Joan Garfield (University of Minnesota, USA) and Dani Ben-Zvi (Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel), who are currently Vice-Presidents of the IASE.
The SRTL Forum offered an opportunity for a small, interdisciplinary group of researchers from six different countries (Australia, Belgium, Northern Ireland, Israel, UK, and US) to meet for five days, to share their work, discuss important issues, and initiate collaborative projects.
Sessions were held in an informal style with a high level of interaction. We experimented in using videos of classroom work or interviews with students, as a way to present, discuss and argue parts of the research work, we are immersed in. We learned that videos are an important tool to use both in research on statistics teaching and learning and in sharing our work.
Our forum was very successful and is planned to lead to an edited book on Statistical Reasoning, Thinking and Literacy. The book will summarize the work presented, discussions conducted on theoretical, methodological, pedagogical, assessment, literacy and communication emerging issues.
This was only the beginning of a very exciting and promising line of research. There is much work to be done. We hope to offer new or expanded networks, an e-mail discussion list, and a second Research Forum (SRTL-2) in the year 2001 in Australia.
If you would like to learn more about our research forum, or learn how to become involved in SRTL-2, please visit the SRTL website (http://www.beeri.org.il/srtl) or contact Joan Garfield (jbg@maroon.tc.umn.edu) or Dani Ben-Zvi (dani.ben-zvi@weizmann.ac.il).
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Newsletter for the Section on Statistical Education
Volume 6, Number 1 (Winter 2000)
On October 1, 1999 the Isolated Statisticians enjoyed an excellent tour of various departments related to record keeping at the Mayo Clinic of Rochester, Minnesota. It was explained that detailed medical records are kept on every patient. Data from these records may be used in medical studies. Maintaining and keeping all the records up to data are major components to this major medical research facility. On Saturday October 2, other colleagues joined the group to hear a presentation from Dr. Michael O'Fallon of the Mayo Clinic. He explained the details of a medical research project he had been involved with, including media reactions, legal implications, and statistical issues.
Tentative plans are being made to meet again in the Fall 2000, perhaps in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
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The executive committee of the Section on Statistical Education decided to continue for another year to send the issues of the Section newsletter free to School Members of ASA. It is our hope that you find the information in this newsletter interesting.
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