Developing Students’ Statistical Reasoning: Connecting Research and Teaching Practice

Increased attention is being paid to the need for statistically educated citizens: statistics is now included in the K-12 mathematics curriculum, increasing numbers of students are taking courses in high school, and introductory statistics courses are required in college. However, increasing the amount of instruction is not sufficient to prepare statistically literate citizens. A major change is needed in how statistics is taught. To bring about this change, three dimensions of teacher knowledge need to be addressed: their knowledge of statistical content, their pedagogical knowledge, and their statistical-pedagogical knowledge, i.e., their specific knowledge about how to teach statistics. This book is written for mathematics and statistics educators and researchers. It summarizes the research and highlights the important concepts for teachers to emphasize, and shows the interrelationships among concepts. It makes specific suggestions regarding how to build classroom activities, integrate technological tools, and assess students' learning.

This is a unique book. While providing a wealth of examples through lessons and data sets, it is also the best attempt by members of our profession to integrate suggestions from research findings with statistics concepts and pedagogy. The book's message about the importance of listening to research is loud and clear, as is its message about alternative ways of teaching statistics. This book will impact instructors, giving them pause to consider: "Is what I'm doing now really the best thing for my students? What could I do better?"

J. Michael Shaughnessy, Professor, Dept of Mathematical Sciences, Portland State University, USA

This is a much-needed text for linking research and practice in teaching statistics. The authors have provided a comprehensive overview of the current state-of-the-art in statistics education research. The insights they have gleaned from the literature should be tremendously helpful for those involved in teaching and researching introductory courses.

Randall E. Groth, Assistant Professor of Mathematics Education, Salisbury University, USA

This book summarizes the research and highlights the important concepts for teachers to emphasize, showing the interrelationships among concepts. It makes specific suggestions on building classroom activities, and assessing students' learning.

Foreword
Roxy Peck Preface
Joan Garfield and Dani Ben-Zvi Part I. The Foundations of Statistics Education Chapter 1 The Discipline of Statistics Education Chapter 2 The Research on Teaching and Learning Statistics Chapter 3 Creating a Statistical Reasoning Learning Environment Chapter 4 Assessment in Statistics Education Chapter 5 Using Technology to Improve Student Learning of Statistics Part II. From Research to Practice: Developing the Big Ideas of Statistics Introduction to Part II Connecting Research to Teaching Practice Chapter 6 Learning to Reason about Data Chapter 7 Learning to Reason about Statistical Models and Modeling Chapter 8 Learning to Reason about Distribution Chapter 9 Learning to Reason about Center Chapter 10 Learning to Reason about Variability Chapter 11 Learning to Reason about Comparing Groups Chapter 12 Learning to Reason about Samples and Sampling Distributions Chapter 13 Learning to Reason about Statistical Inference Chapter 14 Learning to Reason about Covariation Part III. Implementing Change through Collaboration Introduction to Part III The Role of Collaboration in Improving Statistics Education:
In Learning, in Teaching, and in Research Chapter 15 Collaboration in the Statistics Classroom Chapter 16 Collaboration in Teaching and Research ReferencesResources Tables of Activities Author Index Subject Index