Carmen Batanero
Secretary and Editor
Table of Contents
In this year 1996 I am replacing Joan Garfield as the secretary of the study group and editor of the newsletter, assisted by my colleagues J.D.Godino and A.Vallecillos. During the past eight years the group has grown and has been transformed.The information provided by Joan has helped all of us improve our research work. Certainly Joan has set a standard that will be hard for us to reach. As my first task I would like to express our acknowledgment of her remarkable work.
This newsletter is the first to be distributed from the University of Granada.This has required to change the email address alias for the list of members. Please be patient as we experiment with this new list. If there are any corrections or additions to the newsletter, please post them to the entire list of members by using the e-mail address alias: stated_list@goliat.ugr.es
Carlos Carrion Perez
Centro de Formacion del Profesorado
Departamento de Matematicas
S. Juana de Arco,1 35004 Las
Palmas (Spain)
ccarrion@dma.ulpgc.es
Carlos is a lecturer at the Centro Superior de Formacion del
Profesorado in the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria,
Spain. He teaches Mathematics, Statistics and Mathematics
Education to future primary teachers. He is preparing a
teaching project on Mathematics Education with special
emphasis on Statistics and Computers including didactic
software for teaching statistics.A preliminary version of
this software is going to be presented atICME-8.
Roseinnes Daniel Phahle
Department of Statistics
Vista University, Private Bag X1311
Silverton 0127
South Africa
PHHLE-RD@marlin.vista.ac.za
Senior Lecturer in Mathematics at Vista University (South
Africa). Interested in Statistics Education for two
reasons:(1) I would like to see Statistics become a
separate subject in South African schools; and (2) making
the teaching of Probability and Statistics accessible and
attractive to students such as I am now teaching, that is,
students with socio-economic-educational disadvantage. I
have no previous research in Probability or Statistics.
Howard Edwards
Dept. of Statistics, Massey University Albany Private Bag
102904, North Shore MSC
New Zealand
e-mail: H.Edwards@massey.ac.nz
http://fims-www.massey.ac.nz/stats/howard.html
BSc(Hons), MSc(Dist), PhD, Canterbury. Royal Society of New
Zealand Young Scientist's Award (1980). Thomas L Saaty prize
for the most outstanding applied paper in the American
Journal of Mathematical and Management Sciences (1987).
Research Interests include the use of Bayesian statistical
methods for ranking and selection problems focusing on the
use of computer-intensive methods such as Gibbs sampling,
and the design of computer software to facilitate the use of
such techniques in practical situations. He is also
interested in the use of sequential sampling methods in
these and other areas, and in the general area of statistics
education.
Regis Gras
Institut Mathematique, Universite de Rennes I Av. Gal
Leclerc
Campus de Beaulieu
35042 Rennes Cedex, France
Regis.Gras@univ-rennes1.fr
He is a lecturer and researcher in Mathematics Education.
He has supervised several doctoral dissertation on this
topics, some of which are related to the teaching of
Statistics. His research team is developing new data
analysis techniques with special emphasis on their
applications to Mathematics Education. He has coordinate
the organization and edition of the proceedings of the
"Colloque Methodes d'analyses statistiques
multidimmensionnelles en Didactique des Mathematiques".
Some of his papers have been published into Educational
Studies in Mathematics, Recherches en Didactique des
Mathematiques, Informatique, Mathematique et Sciences
Humaines, etc.
This is the e-mail for Jan Gunnar: JanGunnar.Moe@hials.no
Dr. Iddo Gal
Dept. of Human Services
512 Eshkol Tower; University of Haifa
Haifa 31905 ISRAEL
Internet: iddo@research.haifa.ac.il
Note: Throughout the newsletter, members names are highlighted in capital letters.
BATANERO, Carmen; ESTEPA, Antonio, GODINO, Juan, D. &
GREEN, David, R. (1996). "Intuitive strategies and
preconceptions about association in contingency tables"
_Journal for Research in Mathematics Education_, 2-20.
The aim of this research was to identify students'
preconceptions concerning statistical association in
contingency tables. An experimental study was carried out
with 213 pre-university students, and it was based on
students' responses to a written questionnaire including
2x2, 2x3 and 3x3 contingency tables. In this article, the
students' judgments of association and solution strategies
are compared with finding of previous psychological research
on 2x2 contingency tables. We also present an original
classification of students' strategies, from a mathematical
point of view. Correspondence analysis is used to show the
effect of item task variables on students' strategies.
Finally, we include a qualitative analysis of the strategies
of 51 students, which has served to characterize three
misconceptions concerning statistical association.
BEA,Wolfgang (1995) _Analysen aus kognitionspsychologischer
und didaktischer Perspektive._ Frankfurt: Neu Bei Peter Lang
(Stochastic thinking analyses from cognitive psychological
and didactic perspectives". (ISBN: 3-63148844-0)
As we understand stochastic thinking as any cognitive
activity when coping with uncertainty, it plays an important
role in daily life, especially in decision situations.
Therefore, a widespread quality improvement in stochastic
thinking would be a major contribution to the generation of
decision and action competence. The book's goal is to
provide suggestions about how such a quality improvement can
be achieved.
Contents:
GRAS , Regis & Totohasina, Andre(1995). " Conceptions
d'eleves sur la notion de probabilite conditionnelle
revelees par une methode d'analyse des donnees : implication
- similarite - correlation" ( Student' conceptions on
conditional probability revealed by a data analysis method :
implication-similarity-correlation). _Educational Studies in
Mathematics_, 28m 337-363.
The introduction of notions of probability, above all
conditional probability, poses a thorny problem in didactics
due to student's preconceptions (Fischbein et al.,
1991), stemming from the concrete references indispensable
for this introduction. These preconceptions may be
reinforced by conceptions which become epistemological and
especially didactic obstacles. Using a new method of data
analysis - statisticalimplication - and a method of post
correlative treatment, we reveal these conceptions using
student's work, and make explicit the procedures of problem
solving used, that are a reflection of these conceptions.
GRAS, R. & Totohasina, A.(1995). "Chronologie et causalite,
conceptions sources d'obstacles episitemologiques a la
notion de probabilite conditionnelle"._ Recherches en
Didactique des MathŽmatiques, 15(1), 49-95.
The difficulties that students meet with during first
learning of the notion of conditional probability arise from
obstacles of diverse nature. We have identified two
misconceptions which explicate some of these difficulties: a
chronological conception and a causal one which both
opposite against reversibility necessary for dealing with
the Bayes' formula. Through a questionnaire presented to
students and with the help of multidimensional analysis, we
ratify the existence and function of these misconceptions
which persist till University. We bring to the fore, for
example, a connection between causal misconception and
confusion between the increase in information and the
probability one.
VALLECILLOS, Angustias (In press). University student's
understanding of the logic of statistical tests. _Recherches
en Didactique des Matematiques_, 15 (3), 1-30.
This paper presents the results of a theoretical and
experimental study concerning the understanding of
university students about the logic of statistical testing.
The theoretical study discusses epistemological issues
concerning Fisher's and Neyman-Pearson's approaches to
hypothesis testing and their relationship to the problem of
induction in experimental sciences. The first part of
experimental study has been carried out on a sample
constituted of 436 students in 7 different university
specialties. In the second part of the study a series of
seven clinical interviews have been analyzed. As a
consequence of the analysis we identify four main
conceptions a) The test of hypothesis as a decision rule
which provides a criterion to accept one of the hypotheses;
b) The test of hypothesis as a procedure for obtaining
empirical support for the hypotheses under investigation; c)
The test of hypothesis as a mathematical proof of the truth
of one of the hypotheses and d)The test of hypothesis as a
inductive procedure which allows us to compute the "a
posteriori" probability of the null hypothesis.
Volume 3, Number 3 (November 1995); ISSN: 1069-1898
Jim Albert, "Teaching Inference About Proportions Using
Bayes and Discrete Models" (64K)
ABSTRACT: Teaching elementary statistical inference from a
traditional viewpoint can be hard, due to the difficulty in
teaching sampling distributions and the correct
interpretation of statistical confidence. Bayesian methods
have the attractive feature that statistical conclusions can
be stated using the language of subjective probability.
Simple methods of teaching Bayes' rule are described, and
these methods are illustrated for inference and prediction
problems for one and two proportions. We discuss the
advantages and disadvantages of traditional and Bayesian
approaches in teaching inference and give texts that provide
examples and software for implementing Bayesian methods in
an elementary class.
KEY WORDS: Baseball; Bayes' rule; Conditional probability;
Prediction; Prior distribution.
Christopher Ferrall, "Interactive Statistics Tutorials in
Stata" (33K)
ABSTRACT: This paper discusses a set of programs written in
the statistical package Stata that is designed to support
interactive student tutorials. The tutorial package has
several desirable features, including customized tutorials,
full student interaction, checking of student answers,
repetition of practice problems using randomly chosen
values, and a simple way to gauge student comprehension even
when students run the tutorials at home. As an example, a
tutorial used in an undergraduate econometrics class is
discussed. The example illustrates Monte Carlo experiments
on the linear regression model that allow students to
demonstrate the validity of various formulas for the
sampling distribution of ordinary least squares estimates.
KEY WORDS: Teaching aids; Econometrics; Monte Carlo
experiments.
Sue GORDON, "A Theoretical Approach to Understanding
Learners of Statistics" (66K)
ABSTRACT: This paper provides examples of students' reflections
on learning statistics. The Mathematics Learning Centre, where
I teach, offers help to students experiencing difficulty with
basic mathematics and statistics courses at university. The
excerpts are drawn from surveys or interviews of these and
other students studying statistics at the University of Sydney.
Activity theory, which is based on the work of Vygotsky,
provides a helpful conceptual model for investigating learning
at the university level. From the perspective of activity
theory, learning is viewed as a mediated activity in a socio
historical context.In particular, the way a student monitors
and controls the ongoing cognitive activity depends on how that
individual reflects on his or her efforts and evaluates
success. In Semenov's words, ``Thought must be seen as a
cognitive activity that involves the whole person'' (1978, p.
5). Students' interpretations of their learning tasks and the
educational goals for their self-development are discussed
within this theoretical framework.
KEY WORDS: Activity theory; Adult learners; Goals of
learners; Experiences; Perceptions of context; Goals of
statistics education.
R. Kirk Steinhorst and Carolyn M. Keeler, "Developing
Material for Introductory Statistics Courses from a
Conceptual, Active Learning Viewpoint" (38K)
ABSTRACT: For traditionally trained statistics teachers,
developing active learning material is difficult. We present
representative active learning materials that we have used
over the last several years. We also give examples of exam
questions that we have used to test conceptual understanding
gained through the class exercises.
KEY WORDS: Conceptual learning; Authentic assessment.
Teaching Bits: A Resource for Teachers of Statistics (30K)
ABSTRACT: This column features "bits" of information sampled
from a variety of sources that may be of interest to
teachers of statistics. Joan GARFIELD abstracts information
from the literature on teaching and learning statistics,
while Laurie Snell summarizes articles from the news and
other media that may be used with students to provoke
discussions or serve as a basis for classroom activities or
student projects.
Robert J. MacG. Dawson, "The `Unusual Episode' Data
Revisited" (26K)
ABSTRACT: A certain dataset, giving population at risk and
fatalities for an unusual episode,'' has been used for some
time in classrooms as an elementary exercise in statistical
thinking, the challenge being to deduce the context of the
data. Unfortunately, the ``solution'' has frequently been
circulated orally, with few details. Moreover,discrepancies
have been found between the dataset and the ``solution,''
which would render the exercise somewhat artificial. This
paper investigates the discrepancies and includes a fully
explained version of the dataset for classroom use.
KEY WORDS: Elementary statistics teaching; Categorical
datasets; Survival data; Classroom exercises.
Bennet, D. J. (1993) _ The development of the mathematical
concept of randomness: educational implications. Ph. D. New
York University. Supervisor: Kenneth P. Goldberg. UMI N.
93176357
The evolution of the concept of randomness is explored
through the method of historical research from antiquity to
the formalization of the notion. The thesis is divided in
five chapters: I: Introduction; II: Chance or Randomness in
antiquity; II. Randomness in the middle ages, the
renaissance and the enlightenment, IV: random sampling and
simulation experiments in the development of statistical
theory, and V: The concept of randomness made precise.
Finally, educational implications are examined in light of
the increased emphasis on probability and statistics at all
levels of the curriculum. Recommendations are made for the
presentation of notions of randomness and chance in the
classroom. The importance of correct intuition and active
learning in the instruction of the concept of chance are
emphasized.
OJEDA, Ana Maria (1994). _Understanding fundamental ideas of
probability at pre-university levels_ King's College London.
Supervisor: Kathleen Hart.
This work investigated some fundamental ideas of probability
when taught at pre-university levels. A preliminary inquiry
focused on the idea of chance and combinatorics. Then an
exploratory study with English children aged 10-11 and 14-16
years involved several
interrelated probability ideas. Two questionnaires were used
and interviews were done to clarify some interesting
answers. Among the problems identifies, there was the
difficulty in assessing conditional probabilities. After a
traditional teaching of this topic, Mexican students aged 16-
22 were given a questionnaire presented in four forms. The
results were used for designing didactic material which took
into account the influence of the context. Then, using the
same questionnaire, the understanding of conditional
probability was studied after a teaching based on the
didactic material. Although the results of the second sample
were quantitatively the same as those from the first sample,
72% of the students used the tools taught and 6% applied
Bayes' theorem successfully. However, the recognition of
conjunction of events remained a difficulty to overcome.
Totohasina, A. (1992)._Implicative method in data analysis
and application to analyze students' conceptions of
conditional probability. Ph.D. de Rennes, I. Supervisor:
REGIS GRAS.
The expansion of the informational concept of cohesion by A.
Larher, in her thesis, gives an interesting extension of the
statistical implication theory founded by R. GRAS. While it
retains its non symmetrical originality and its capacity to
deal with modals variables, this theory belongs nowadays to
the category of probabilistic clustering methods in data
analysis. Our present work studies, by simulations, the
probability law of implicative cohesion of a class of
variables. For reducing the number of variables in cases of
possible "superabundance", we offer two methods in using
this theory. The application of these methods, concurrently
with other classical ones, to study the acquisition of
conditional probability concepts by students, allowed us to
bring to the fore three conceptions of this notion: the
causal, the cardinal, and the chronological. The analysis of
problem solving procedures and of didactic contracts reveals
the robustness of these three conceptions. susceptible to
erect them in epistemical obstacle and naturally to
compromise the operativeness of Bayes' theorem. The
treatment of a "multiple-choice" questionnaire, crossed with
a formal problem, raffles this. A proposition in didactic
engineering of introducing the notion - is done, taking
justly the control of these three conceptions into account,
and implementing two graphical significants.
VALLECILLOS, Angustias (1994) _A theoretical and
experimental study of students' errors and conceptions about
the tests of hypotheses. Ph. D. University of Granada,
Spain. Supervision: Carmen Batanero Bernabeu and Rafael
Perez Ocon.
In this thesis a theoretical and experimental study
concerning statistical tests of hypotheses and their
learning by undergraduates has been carried out. The first
chapter analyses the statistical, historical and
philosophical components of the topic. A summary of previous
investigations, as well as the research problem, theoretical
framework and methodology is also presented. The second
chapter describes a questionnaire on conceptual and
procedural knowledge about hypotheses testing, whose
construction was based on an "a priori" analysis of the
content. The validity and generalizability of the
questionnaire are discussed, using the results of a pilot
sample. An experimental study to determine conceptual and
procedural errors in the learning of the topic was made
using a sample of 436 undergraduates. The results of this
study is presented in the third chapter, where multivariate
analysis is used to show the interrelationships among
different errors and to identify factors associated with the
whole understanding of hypotheses testing. Correct and
incorrect conceptions concerning key concepts in hypotheses
testing are also explained. In the fourth chapter an indepth
study of the concept of significance level is carried out
through personal interviews to a smaller sample of students.
This study relates the misinterpretations of the
significance level to misconceptions about other main
concepts in hypotheses testing.
Beattie, K. (1995). "Training in the law of large numbers
and everyday inductive reasoning: a replication, with
implications for statistics course design". _International
Journal of Mathematics Education in Science and Technology_,
26( 6), 795-808
This study investigated the effect of a previously
successful lesson in the law of large numbers on the
everyday inductive reasoning of 64 Australian higher
education students with humanities and science backgrounds.
It also tested one aspect of Reigeluth's Elaboration Theory
of Instruction. Word problems were used to test reasoning.
The results closely replicated several] of Fong, Krantz and
Nisbett's findings with American subjects and supported
Reigeluth's theory, although they raise a question about the
effectiveness of formal statistics course training in the
local population. A possible salience or demand effect, and
the interaction between moral development and the
willingness to generalize statistical heuristics are
discussed. Several new approaches to the teaching of
introductory statistics are suggested.
Mokros, Jan and Russell, Susan Jo (1995). "Children's
concepts of average and representativeness". _Journal for
Research in Mathematics Education_, 26(1), 20-39.
Whenever the need arises to describe a set of data in a
succinct way, the issue of representativeness arises. The
goal of this research is to understand the characteristics
of this through eighth graders' constructions of "average"
as a representative number giving a data set. Twenty-one
students were interviewed, using a series of open-ended
problems that called o children to construct their own
notion of representativeness. Five basic constructions of
representativeness are identified and analyzed. These
approaches illustrate the ways in which students are (or are
not) developing useful, general definitions for the
statistical concept of average.
Ross, J. A. & Smyth, E. (1995). "Thinking skills for gifted
students: The case for correlational reasoning". _ Roeper
Review_, 17(4), 239-243.
Thinking skill are an integral component of programs for
gifted learners. Research on correlational reasoning
demonstrates that the ability to solve correlational
problems is unlikely to develop without well designed
instruction. Several successful programs (in whole class.
cooperative learning, and computer formats) and their
implications in programming for gifted students are
discussed.
Omar Rouan & Richard Pallascio (1994). "Conceptions
probabilistes d'ŽlŽves marocains du secondaire". _
Recherches en Didactique des MathŽmatiques, 14(3), 393-428.
The following article presents a research in mathematics
education about probabilistic conceptions of Moroccan
students of 18-19 years old. The article is about the
analysis and interpretation of part of the data, collected
during the experiment in this research.In the experiment, we
used a questionnaire and several interviews that we prepared
from a set of works done in the field, and from social
phenomena as sports, games... The results of this experiment
laid us to formulate a group of hypothesis concerning the
conceptions that individuals may have about probability
notions.In the conclusion, we can find several trails of
research based on the hypothesis brought out from the
analysis and interpretation of the results.
Perry; M. & Kader, G.(1995)."Using simulation to study
estimation". _Mathematics and computer education_, 29(1), 53-
64.
Estimation of a population parameter based on random samples
is fundamental statistical problem considered in
undergraduate statistical duration.In an introductory
course, estimation is frequently presents as methodology
with, at best, cursory attention given to the underlying
concepts. On the other hand, a more advanced treatment may
approach subject with formal mathematics; the student
masters mathematical derivations and proofs but again
without developing an intuition for the concepts modeled by
the mathematics. Some instructors have found that simulation
provides a powerful tool to enhance conceptual understanding
as well as a tool for finding answers.This paper will extend
these pedagogical ideas to show how computer simulation
models may be used to study the "quality" of an estimation
procedure and concurrently subtle concepts of randomness and
convergence.Special emphasis is given to the use of
graphical representations. These ideas have been used y the
authors in a mathematical statistics class as well as in
introductory intermediate courses.
PME XVIII. University of Lisbon, Portugal, 1994
Posters and short oral communications:
Research reports included in J.P.Matos and J. F. Ponte (Eds): _Proceedings of the PME XVIII_. University of Lisbon:
PME XIX. Universidade Federal de Pernambuco. Recife,
Brazil, 1995.
Research reports included in L. Meira and D. Carraher
(Eds): Proceedings of the 19th PME Conference. Universidade
Federal de Pernambuco:
Short oral communications and posters:
TARTU CONFERENCE ON COMPUTATIONAL STATISTICS & STATISTICAL EDUCATION (Second announcement), June 2nd to 8th, 1996, Tartu, Estonia.
Preliminary program for June 3rd to 6th
CONTRIBUTED PAPERS SESSIONS, SOFTWARE DEMONSTRATION, POSTER SESSION PANEL DISCUSSION 'The state of art in computational statistics'. S. Mustonen and P. Naeve.
June 8. Workshop 'STATISTICS AT SCHOOL' oriented to pre university level ofstatistical education using statistical software. Invited lecturer Manfred Borovcnik.
SOCIAL PROGRAM
June 2 Tour of old Tallinn
3 Conference Reception
4 Evening walking tour of Tartu
5 Conference Dinner
6 Concert
8 Farewell party
INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM COMMITTEE:J. Antoch, R. Biehler, G.
Kulldorff, S. Mustonen, E. M.Tiit, L. M. ToodingCALL FOR ABSTRACTS Papers, concerning the intersection of the fields mentioned in the title of the conference are preferred. Persons wishing to present a paper are requested to send an abstract.Software demonstration is available. Presentations will be accepted on the basis of abstracts which will be published before the Conference, and authors will be notified within one month if accepted. DEADLINE for receipt of abstracts is 1st March 1996.
ABSTRACTS SHOULD BE SENT to the Conference secretary: Elvi Ehasalu, J.Liivi 2, Tartu EE2400, Estonia. Tel: 372 7 465 453, Fax: 372 7 433 509, E-mail: elvi@madli.ut.ee, etiit@madli.ut.ee, tooding@madli.ut.ee
PROCEEDINGS of selected papers will be published after conference.
CONFERENCE FEES The Conference fee will be 70 DEM (participants) and 40 DEM (accompanying persons) if paid before 15th March 1996. The fee is 90 DEM and 50 DEM after this date. This covers the welcoming party, coffee (during breaks), organisation and materials (including Abstracts).
ACCOMMODATION TARU Hotel -- 120 DEM single, 150 DEM double. PARK Hotel and PRO Hotel -- 50 DEM single, 75 DEM double. The prices include breakfast. If you are interested in low budget, University dormitories, 12 DEM single, 20 DEM double. Please inform the Conference Secretary about your accommodation needs before April 1st.
GETTING TO THE CONFERENCE Tallinn is well connected internationally by air and sea. The major air routs to Tallinn are from Helsinki, Stockholm, Vilnius, Moscow, Copenhagen, London, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Amsterdam. The major sea routes to Tallinn are from Helsinki and Stockholm. If you would like to travel through the Baltics by train, the Baltic Express runs daily between Tallinn (stops in Tartu) and Warsaw, connecting Estonia with central Europe (Vienna, Berlin, Prague etc.).
From TALLINN come to TARTU by bus or train - buses almost every hour from the bus station (autobussijaam), or trains every three hours from the train station (raudteejaam) Conference participants should: ARRIVE to TALLINN 2nd June 1996. PLEASE INFORM the Secretary in advance of the time and place of your arrival.
REGISTRATION FORM. AND COMPLEMENTARY INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE FROM ROLF BIEHLER (rolf.biehler@HRZ.Uni Bielefeld.DE) or from the Conference secretary.
Three statistical conferences are being held in Sydney in July 1996 under the umbrella of SISC'96 (SYDNEY INTERNATIONAL STATISTICAL CONGRESS). MORE DETAILS OF THIS AND Registration forms can be obtained from http://www.dms.csiro.au/sisc/index.html
One session at the congress is to be on Statistical Education with the title Broadening Horizons This will include information retrieval and long term objectives in teaching statistics.
Prior to the conference there is to be a workshop on statistical education, 5-7 July 1996. There will be four sessions:
Up to date information on the workshop and the education session at SISC'96 can be obtained by subscribing to the e mail list StatEd_List.This can be done by sending the one line message subscribe StatEd_List to maiser@efs.mq.edu.au
This list has been primarily set up to aid in planning for the workshop but also to foster discuss of statistical education primarily, though not exclusively, at the tertiary level.
"20 PME": International Group for the PSYCHOLOGY OF MATHEMATICS EDUCATION, Valencia, Spain, July 9-12, 1996. Organized by the Department of "Didactica de la Matematica" at the University of Valencia. A call for papers has been submitted with the first announcement, including the following deadlines for different types of personal presentations: short oral communications and poster presentations (March, 1st, 1996). Information is available from the Conference Chair, Angel Gutierrez, Universitat de Valencia, E.U. Magisterio, Apartado 22045, 46071 Valencia (Spain), E-mail: angel.gutierrez@uv.es
In addition to individual presentations there are also some working and discussion groups at the PME Conference. John and Kathleen Truran are sending the following proposal for a discussion group at PME.
Proposal for a Discussion Group at PME 20, Valencia: _The
Learning and Teaching of Probability and Statistics_ John M.
TRURAN; Kathleen M, TRURAN (University of South Australia).
Formal stochastics is a relatively recent activity,
especially in schools, and effective pedagogical skills are
not yet widely spread. Much recent research has focused on
establishing children's understanding of parts of the
topics. More general theories are slowly emerging, but are
still not widely accepted. This discussion group will aim
to provide a forum to assist the increasing number of
researchers in this field to see the broad picture within
which to set their own work. Shaughnessy (1992) presented a
wish list for future research in stochastics that included
both conceptions and misconceptions held by both students
and teachers, assessment issues, cross-cultural studies and
the effect of metacognition in decision making under
uncertainty.
Some of these issues were addressed at the Fourth
International Conference on the Teaching of Statistics in
Marrakech in 1994 and in a Discussion Group at PME in Lisbon
in 1994 chaired by Kath Hart. These discussions, and also
the papers presented to PME in Lisbon and at Recife in 1995
have shown that current work often addresses some of these
issues but tends to concentrate on either probability or
statistics, and much less often on the links between the
two.
It is proposed, therefore, that the two meetings of the
discussion group will look especially at forging links
between probability and statistics. The first meeting will
address the "pure" issue of conceptions and misconceptions
in both topics. The second will address the "applied" issue
of the learning in service courses of stochastic concepts
by secondary and tertiary students who want to use
statistics as a tool in other disciplines. Issues of
assessment and metacognition and cultural background will
be of special relevance here.
If you are planning to attend PME and you would like to participate in such a group, please contact to John TRURAN: jtruran@arts.adelaide.edu.au
"8th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON MATHEMATICAL EDUCATION
(ICME) ", Seville, Spain, 14-21 July 1996.
Brian PHILLIPS Is organizing ICME-8 topic group 9 comprising two sections on "Statistics and Probability at the Secondary Level".This session aims to highlight the issues involved in, and to provide directions for the future of, the teaching of statistics and probability at the secondary level. The program will include overviews of the state of the art of these topics, discussions on children's understanding of the basic concepts of probability and statistics, general issues such as the curriculum, assessment, teacher training, the use of technology, how research may affect how these topics are taught in the future and there will be a forum discussion.
Further details can be obtained from Brian PHILLIPS. Email: brp@swin.oz.au.
PME 21 at Lahti Adult Education Centre, Finland, July 1419, 1997. Lahti is 100 km north of Helsinki and can be reached from the international airport by direct express bus. Contact: Erkki Pehkonen: pehkonen@bulsa.helsinki.fi.
PME-NA 1997 will be held October 18-21 in Bloomington/ Normal, Illinois. For additional information contact Jane Swalford, Department of Mathematics, campus box 4520, Illinois State University, normal, IL, 61709-4520 USA. (swalford@mathe.ilstu.edu
"ISI 51st Biennial Session", including IASE meeting, Istanbul, Turkey, August 1997. Information is available form the ISI Permanent Office: 428 Beatrixlaan, P.O. Box 950, 2270 AZ Voorburg, The Netherlands. The next ISI meeting is at Istanbul, Turkey, 1997. The statistics education sessions are being organized there by Annie MORIN.(e-mail: annie.morin@irisa.fr )
"ICOTS-5", June 1998. The main conference that the International Association for Statistical Education, IASE, organizes is the International Conference on Teaching Statistics, ICOTS which is run every four years. The next conference will be held in Singapore, June 21-26, 1998. The theme of the conference is 'Statistical Education Expanding the Network'. Anyone interested in organizing sessions at ICOTS 5 should contact me. We are also interested in expressions of interest to host ICOTS 6 in 2002.
Information is available from Brian PHILLIPS, School of Mathematical Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology, PO Box 218 Hawthorn, 3122, Australia. E-mail: brp@swin.oz.au
Carmen Batanero
Departamento de Didactica de la Matematica
Facultad de Ciencias de la Educacion
Campus de Cartuja
18071 GRANADA (Spain)
Phone: 58 243950 Fax: 58 243949
E.mail: batanero@goliat.ugr.es