This paper is from Session 2B: Secondary-level statistical education
which comes under Topic 2: Statistics education at the school level
(Wednesday 14th, 11:00-13:00)
Making sense of statistical studies: a capstone experience for secondary students
Presenter
Co-author
- Roxy Peck (Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, United States)
Abstract
In the last decade, statistics and data analysis have become more visible components of secondary school mathematics in the United States. In most cases, statistics and data analysis topics have been spread through the mathematics curriculum. However, many important statistical concepts are not mathematical in nature and are not easily integrated into existing mathematics courses. As a result, most students complete their secondary education having encountered some graphical and numerical data analysis techniques, but not having engaged in meaningful statistical reasoning. Since the addition of a separate statistics course to the secondary curriculum is unlikely, an alternate approach is proposed. With support from the American Statistical Association/National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Joint Committee on Curriculum in Statistics and Probability, a capstone experience for secondary students has been designed. Making Sense of Statistical Studies is a coordinated set of investigations that can be used in existing mathematics courses to promote students’ conceptual understanding of the data analysis process.
