This paper is from Session 3E: Professional development of statistics instructors

which comes under Topic 3: Education and development of staff who teach statistics

Building the capacity of mathematics and science teachers to teach statistics

Presenter

• Katharine Richards (Plymouth University, United Kingdom)

Co-authors

• Neil Sheldon (Plymouth University, United Kingdom)
• Neville Davies (Plymouth University, United Kingdom)

Abstract

Capacity building in statistics teaching requires teachers who wish to improve their pedagogy and knowledge to be, or become, artists, scientists and literists. This is because learning from data, the lifeblood of statistics, is an art and science: reporting any conclusions or findings in a trustworthy way requires a high level of writing skills. Consequently, continuing professional development (CPD) courses in statistics need to provide for teachers to be able to become better in these three areas in relation to many aspects of teaching and learning statistics. In this paper we describe the development of a CPD course, Certificate in Teaching Statistics up to Pre-university Level, first accredited as a professional qualification by the Royal Statistical Society in 2006, and its incarnation into masters-level modules that are now part of the Plymouth University International Masters Programme and can lead to the award of MA in Teaching Pre-university Mathematics and Statistics.