Topics
Creating Data Scientists
What skills, knowledge, habits of mind, and dispositions do students need to handle the complex data structures that students routinely encounter via the internet and in their research (or future research)? When should they be introduced to/ explore/ develop expertise in these skills? How should these concepts, habits and skills be taught? What fundamental statistical concepts are required to interpret and analyze such data? What fundamental statistical concepts should students know to guide their handling of these complex data structures?
The Role of Technology in Statistics Education in Developing Countries
As statistics becomes more computer-centric (and less mathematics-centric), what particular challenges face developing countries? How can curricula and pedagogy be designed to address or overcome these challenges? Do emerging technologies (i.e. smart phones, one-laptop-per-child) offer solutions or create even greater gaps? In the face of limited resources, what technologies can be used to enhance the teaching of statistics at the different levels of the educational system? What institutional and teacher support systems may be needed / provided for more practical and effective use of technology in statistics classrooms?
Students’ Access to Data
How can complex data structures be brought into the classroom? How does the accessibility of such data (for example, streaming data, longitudinal data, relational databases) affect the curriculum? What technological tools have been/ should be developed to increase this accessibility? What technical and other skills do students at different ages need to access these data? To what extent does being statistically literate now require knowledge of the many large, publicly available data bases, and some understanding of how to access and query them?
Teaching and Learning with Large Data Sets
What can students learn from Large Data Sets that they cannot learn from traditional data? How can technological tools, curricula, or pedagogical approaches support this learning? What logistical, technical or conceptual problems must instructors overcome to make these data accessible to students? What new statistical concepts arise as students explore data with large n and/or large p ?
The Development, Implementation, and Assessment of Classroom Technology
How can technology be used to improve statistics education? What tools are needed to prepare students for making statistical inference? How can technology help students focus on central concepts? What is the future of the textbook, given the slow and gradual shift towards on-line assessment, applets, and e-books?
Papers
(See below for guidelines on the preparation of manuscripts.)
The 2012 IASE Roundtable Scientific Program Committee will prepare the program and schedule for the Roundtable. The Committee has agreed on a list of topics that will form the basis of the discussions and invites those interested to send in a three-page summary of their proposed paper. The major topics are summarized below.
Theoretical papers should include:
- the statement of the problem and its importance,
- background or appropriate previous work,
- discussion of main arguments,
- implications for curricular development, teaching, or learning
- references.
Descriptions of empirical research should include:
- the statement of the problem and its importance,
- background or appropriate previous work,
- methodology,
- data analysis and discussion of main results,
- implications for curricular development or teaching,
- references.
Descriptions of curriculum, pedagogy and/or technology innovations should include:
- statement of the problem addressed and its importance,
- description of the innovation,
- background, focus and philosophy of the curriculum, pedagogy or new technology,
- development process,
- pilot and implementation results,
- discussion and implications,
- sources and references.
The Program Committee will review the summaries. Authors of papers that seem promising in terms of the overall Roundtable program will be encouraged to submit full papers. The final selection will be made on the basis of the contribution of the paper to the thinking of the field and to ensure representation from diverse communities around the world.
Guidelines for the Preparation of Manuscripts
The following documents can be downloaded to help with the preparation of manuscripts:
