2. Statistics Education Research Newsletter (IASE SERN)

3. SRTL-2: The Second International Research Forum on Statistical Reasoning, Thinking, and Literacy

4. ICOTS-6: The Sixth International Conference on Teaching Statistics

5. Next Newsletter

By now those going to PME-24 this year should have received their Second Announcement, and we hope that those who offered Research Reports have also received acceptances and helpful comments from the referees.

Two meetings have been set down for Discussion Groups. The first runs from 18:00 to 19:30 on Monday 24^th July 2000: the first full day of the Conference. The second is from 13:30 to 15:00 on Thursday 27^th July, not long before the Closing Session of the Conference at 17:00.

We have four co-ordinators for the Discussion Group: Jenni Way (UK/Australia), James Nicholson (Northern Ireland), Mario Barra (Italy) and John Truran (Australia). (John’s apologies to Mario for leaving him off the last announcement). We are quite willing to receive further offers of brief talks, but it is better if you can tell us in advance. We remind you that we try to make things as easy as possible for people who are not strong in English. We can help with translations, especially if we have advance notice. The group is very friendly and tolerant, and we do not want people to feel that their English will not be good enough.

The Conference schedule is very full and intense, and quite physically demanding for those of us who revel in long, leisurely coffee breaks. So we are proposing the following timetable:

Members of the IASE will already have received notice of this electronic publication (IASE SERN, Volume 1 Number 2, May 2000), which contains a provocative editorial on priority questions about research in statistical education, as well as a bibliographies of the works of the late Lennart Rade and of the value of Activity Theory for designing effective statistics education courses. There is also a summary of the Memorial for Efraim Fischbein held in Haifa last year, and the usual extensive reporting of recent work. IASE SERN may be viewed at <http://www.ugr.es/~batanero/sergroup.htm>, but non-members of IASE are encouraged to join, so that they receive up-to-date information about this publication and other relevant activities.

1. Notes and comments

2. Research into statistical education: Some priority questions

3. IASE members

4. Lennart Rade

5. Brief news

6. Summaries of publications by IASE members

7. Recent dissertations

8. Bibliography on activity theory and related research in education

9. SERN bibliographies

10. Other publications of interest

11. Complementary short references

12. Internet resources of interest

13. Information on past conferences

14. IASE Round Table Conference on Training Researchers in the Use of Statistics

15. Forthcoming conferences.

The second in a series of International Research Forums, being offered under the umbrella of the Statistical Education Research Group of the International Association for Statistical Education (IASE SERG), is to be held in Australia in August 2001. This gathering offers an opportunity for a small, interdisciplinary group 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 Forum will be Statistical Reasoning, Thinking and Literacy. One outcome of the Forum will be the publication of a book summarizing the work presented, discussions conducted, and issues emerging from this gathering.

Presentations at the SRTL-2 Forum should focus on:

For further information, please contact Dr Chris Reading, Department of Curriculum Studies, University of New England, Armidale NSW 2351, Australia, Phone (02) 6773 5060, Fax (02) 6773 5078, e-mail <creading@metz.une.edu.au>, or visit the SRTL-2 Web-site at <http://www.beeri.org.il/SRTL/>.

The Sixth International Conference on Teaching Statistics (ICOTS-6) will be held at the new high-tech International Convention Centre in Durban, South Africa, from 7–12 July 2002. The theme of the Conference is "Developing a Statistically Literate Society" and there will be special Statistical Literacy activities, aiming to attract a wider audience than just the conference attendees. Topic convenors have been appointed, and session convenors will soon be appointed. For more information see the main ICOTS-6 Web-site at <http://www.beeri.org.il/icots6/> and the Local Organizing Committee site at <http://icots.itikzn.co.za/>, or contact the ICOTS-6 Scientific Secretary: Dani Ben-Zvi at <dani.ben-zvi@weizmann.ac.il>.