PME Working Group for Stochastics Teaching and Learning
<http://www.ugr.es/~batanero/pmegroup>
<http://www.ugr.es/local/batanero/pmegroup.htm>
Letter No 16 - Sep 1998
Dear Friends,
This Special Newsletter contains 3 items announcing forthcoming conferences and publications
1. International Research Forum on Statistical Reasoning, Thinking, and Literacy (SRTL)
2. Training of Researchers in the Use of Statistics
3. Teaching and Learning Statistics: Implications from Research
1. INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH FORUM ON STATISTICAL REASONING, THINKING, AND LITERACY (SRTL)
July 18-23, 1999
Kibbutz Be'eri, Israel
The International Study Group for Research on Learning Probability and Statistics is offering the first in a series of International Research Forums, to be held in Israel in July 1999. Sponsored by the Weizmann Institute of Science and the University of Minnesota, this forum offers an opportunity for a small number of researchers from around the world to meet for a few days to share their work, discuss important issues, and initiate collaborative projects. The topic of the first forum will be Statistical Reasoning, Thinking and Literacy. One outcome of the forum will be the publication of monograph summarizing the work presented, discussions conducted, and issues emerging from this gathering.
Background
Research into statistical education has been growing and receiving increased attention in the past twenty years, which is illustrated by the large number of the papers presented at international conferences, articles published in statistics and educational journals, and even entire books devoted to a particular aspect of statistical education.
The five International Conferences on Teaching Statistics (ICOTS), held every four years, beginning in 1982, helped to progressively link an informal research network of people interested in carrying out research on the teaching and learning statistics at all age levels. It was at ICOTS I in 1982 that the International Study Group for Research on Learning Probability and Statistics was formed.
The goal of the new study group was to encourage research in statistical education; promote the exchange of information between members; develop instruments by which concepts about probability and statistics could be assessed; and in general, improve the teaching and interpretation of probability and statistics by dissemination of research findings.
Currently, the chair of the study group (Carmen Batanero, University of Granada, Spain) produces an electronic newsletter every three months to serve as a link between members and to provide information useful to research. It contains summaries of research papers written by members, information about members, summaries of recent dissertations, and other publications of interest, information concerning recent and forthcoming conferences, and Internet resources of interest. There are currently over 200 members representing close to 40 different countries.
The only times members have been able to meet and share their work has been at the ICOTS conferences, every four years. However, in 1996, the IASE decided to focus a roundtable conference on research, and 24 members of the international research community had an opportunity to meet, share and discuss their work, and focus on the important topic of research on the role of technology in teaching and learning statistics. This meeting formed new collaborations, produced a high-quality, edited volume of papers (which is now on the web), and helped identify important issues and needed areas of research. This kind of productivity is only possible when small numbers of people meet together for several days to discuss research details in depth. Unfortunately, the ICOTS meetings do not allow this type of intense and in-depth discussion, allowing only for formal presentations of papers followed by general audience discussion.
At the most recent meeting of ICOTS, held in June 1998 in Singapore, several papers focused on the related topics of Statistical Reasoning, Statistical Thinking, and Statistical Literacy. There seemed to be an overlap among the topics, yet important distinctions between them, none of which have as yet been addressed. It became apparent that when statistics educators or researchers talk about or assess statistical reasoning, thinking, or literacy, they may all be using different definitions and understandings of these cognitive processes. The similarities and differences among these processes are important to consider when formulating learning goals for students, designing instructional activities, and evaluating learning by using appropriate assessment instruments. In addition, in recent years, we have seen an increasing research emphasis on the socially and culturally situated nature of mathematical (statistical) activity. It suggests the importance of participation in the statistical practices established by the classroom community, in scaffolding the statistical reasoning processes of the individual student. A small, focused conference consisting of researchers interested in these topics appears to be an important next step in clarifying the issues, connecting researchers and their studies, and generating some common definitions, goals, and assessment procedures. Some of the questions to be discussed in the forum are:
1 What constitutes Statistical Reasoning, Thinking and Literacy
(SRTL)? What are the different definitions and understandings of SRTL?
2. How are these three types of processing statistical information similar and different from each other?
3. What are the contributions of research on SRTL? What models have been suggested and explored?
4. What are the developmental aspects of SRTL? What do we know about the development of SRTL in different age/grade levels? What do we know about SRTL of professional statisticians? Can we use this information for educational purposes?
5. What methodologies are appropriate for assessing SRTL? What types of research studies are needed to help us better understand these ways of processing information and to help promote them in educational settings?
6. What are the implications of research into SRTL on learning
goals, curriculum design, and assessment?
7. What do we still need to know?
Organization
Dani Ben-Zvi (Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel) and Joan Garfield (University of Minnesota, USA) are co-chairs of the International Research Forum. Assisted by Carmen Batanero (University of Granada, Spain; Chair of the International Study Group for Research on Learning Probability and Statistics) and an advisory committee, they will organize the program, invite participants, and edit the research monograph.
The format of the Research Forum is for 12-15 participants to meet together for three two-hour sessions each day for three days, where most of the sessions will focus on the viewing and discussing of videotapes of students, illustrating statistical reasoning or thinking processes. Background papers by participants and others will be collected and distributed prior to the forum, including current theories of statistical thinking, reasoning and literacy; details on recent research on these topics, and descriptive information on the context of the videos to be viewed.
All sessions will be held at Kibbutz Be'eri, which is in the southern part of Israel. Participants will arrive on Sunday, July 18. On that day there will be an orientation to the Kibbutz and a welcome reception. Meetings will take place on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. On Thursday, there will be a visit and tour of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, followed by a reception there. On Friday, participants may leave the Kibbutz to tour or travel to PME. Participants will need to pay for their own travel to the Research Forum as well as their housing and meals at Kibbutz Be'eri. The estimated cost to participants for housing and meals at the Kibbutz will be about US$60 per day.
The Research Forum organizers invite anyone interested in participating in this forum to contact them as soon as possible. Initial expressions of interest ainvited as well as brief descriptions of relevant work to be shared at the forum.
Please contact:
Dani Ben-Zvi, at ntdben@wiccmail.weizmann.ac.il
Joan Garfield, at jbg@tc.umn.edu
2. TRAINING OF RESEARCHERS IN THE USE OF STATISTICS
IASE Round Table Conference, Meiji University, Tokyo, Japan, July 2000.
Scientific Committee:
Carmen Batanero, Spain, Chair
Theodore Chadjipadelis, Greece
Joan B Garfield, USA
Anne Hawkins, UK
Yuki Miura, Japan
David Ospina, Colombia
Brian Phillips, Australia
Local Organising Committee:
Yuki Miura, Surugadai University, Chair
Kensey Araya, Fukushima University
Masakatsu Murakami, The Institute of Statistical Mathematics
Toshiro Shimada, Professor Emeritus, Meiji University
Mikio Eda, Meiji University, Secretary
Since 1968, a number of Round Table Conferences have been organised on topics in statistics education. These round table conferences were initially organised by the Education Committee of the International Statistical Institute and, since 1988, by IASE (the International Association for Statistical Education). It has been usual for these conferences to be held as satellite meetings to each meeting of ICME(International Congress on Mathematics Education), which is held every four years.
2000 will be the year of the IASE Round Table in Japan on the topic: Training Researchers in the Use of Statistics. This meeting will be held at the Meiji University which is located in the central area of Tokyo, before or after ICME 9 which will held in Japan. The goal of the Round Table Conferences is to bring together a small number of experts, representing as many different countries as possible, to provide opportunities for developing better mutual understanding of common problems, and for making recommendations concerning the topic area under discussion. A main outcome is the publication of a book containing a set of refereed conference papers and summaries of discussions, which presents a global overview of the conference subject. The following are possible topics and issues to be discussed at the IASE 2000 Round Table Conference:
1. Statistical competencies that researchers in different disciplines should acquire in their postgraduate training;
2. Needs and problems in the statistical training of researchers in specific fields;
3. Main learning problems, misconceptions and errors concerning advanced statistical concepts and procedures;
4. Design/ evaluation of courses for training researchers in particular statistical topics;
5. Effects of technology on the statistical training of researchers;
6. Assessing/ identifying frequent errors in the use of statistics by researchers;
7. Researchers' attitudes towards statistics and its effect on the role of data analysis in experimental research;
8. Consultation as a teaching/ learning process;
9. Informal statistical learning from reading research literature.
More information can be obtained from the web page:
http://www.ugr.es/~batanero/iasert.htm
or from Carmen Batanero, Departamento Didáctica de la Matemática, Facultad de Educación, Campus de Cartuja, 18071, Granada, Spain.
E-mail: batanero@goliat.ugr.es
3. TEACHING AND LEARNING STATISTICS: IMPLICATIONS FROM RESEARCH
You will recall reading in recent Newsletters about the proposal to produce a publication that addresses the above theme.
At both the ICOTS conference in Singapore and the PME conference in Stellenbosch we put details of the proposal before members for discussion and consideration. It has taken a great deal of time and thought on the part of many people and the following is the structure which eventually came from members at both conferences.
It was agreed that trying to address issues of both Probability and Statistics in one publication was too much and it was finally decided to limit this publication to Statistics and to produce a further publication in the same mode that addresses issues relating to Probability.
Intended audiences are new and current researchers in statistical education in different areas such as Mathematics Education, Psychology and Education. It would also be directed to statisticians interested in the problems of statistical education, as well as to university lecturers and teacher educators.
The chapters are intended to establish a broad background regarding statistical education and its implication in educational practice. Each chapter should address a relevant part of statistical education and will include a critical survey of the main previous research, its methodology, findings and limitations, especially those concerned with psychology and mathematics education. Its main section will be a practical case study to amplify the theory and raise important issues, and to ensure that strong links are made between research and practice.
Chapter length will be limited to a maximum of 10 000 words. Language should encourage effective use by the target readers. The use of schemes, diagrams, examples of assessment tasks and students’ responses will be encouraged to facilitate understanding.
In the first section of each chapter the authors will introduce the key questions which the chapter aims to address. The final section will suggest some teaching implications, including a summary of known cognitive and pedagogical difficulties. Potential areas for future research will also be included.
The following are the proposed chapter headings:
0 Introduction
1 Historical/Philosophical/Epistemological and Theoretical Issues, including Statistical Thinking
2 Collection and Organisation of Data
3 Graphs
4 Averages and Dispersion
5 Assessment
6 Model Fitting
7 Sampling/Estimation
8 Hypothesis Testing
9 Computers
10 Summary of the Book
11 Forward Looking
It is clear that the publication must be synthesised and that chapters need to be written by the right people, quite possibly more than one author for each chapter. Threading, or the making of clear links between chapters, is also important in a publication of this type and to ensure that it takes place the following are suggested
— Authors to suggest possible threads,
— Authors would see all abstracts before writing so that they can the big picture as a basis for their own writing, and
— Authors of similar abstracts might collaborate to produce one chapter.
The editorial panel is in the process of being arranged, and we hope to have it in place by December. Publishers would need to see 2 or 3 complete chapters and some abstracts to convince them of the worth of the project. Finding a publisher will probably take some time. With this in mind I would be grateful for expressions of interest by 7th December, 1998.
Expressions of interest should provide a title and a brief abstract (from the proposed chapter headings) of the intended chapter (300-350 words). The abstract will focus on the topic of the chapter while keeping in mind the issues of audience and intent summarised above in paragraphs 4 & 5.
Abstracts to arrive no later than 7th December, 1998, can be e-mailed to <Kath.Truran@unisa.edu.au>
or a hard copy sent to: Kath Truran, School of Education, Magill Campus, University of South Australia Magill, South Australia 5072
John Truran <jtruran@arts.adelaide.edu.au>
Kath Truran <Kath.Truran@unisa.edu.au>
Dani Ben-Zvi <ntdben@wiccmail.weizmann.ac.il>
Carmen Batanero <batanero@goliat.ugr.es>
Web Page <http://www.ugr.es/local/batanero/–pmegroup.htm>