| SRTL Home Research Forums SRTLers Program Presentations Sponsors Advisory Committee Galleries |
Announcements for SRTL2Announcement One for SRTL2April 20th, 2000 The second in a series of International Research Forums, being offered under the umbrella of the Statistical Education Research Group of the International Association for Statistical Education (IASE SERG), is to be held in Australia in August 2001. This Forum is sponsored by the Centre for Cognition Research in Learning and Teaching (CRiLT) and the School of Curriculum Studies (SCS) at the University of New England (UNE); the International Association for Statistical Education (IASE); and the University of Minnesota. This gathering offers an opportunity for a small, interdisciplinary group of researchers from around the world to meet for a few days to share their work, discuss important issues, and initiate collaborative projects. The topic of the Forum will be Statistical Reasoning, Thinking and Literacy. One outcome of the Forum will be the publication of a book summarizing the work presented, discussions conducted, and issues emerging from this gathering.
BackgroundResearch into statistical education has been growing and receiving increased attention in the past twenty years, which is illustrated by the large number of the papers presented at international conferences, articles published in statistics and educational journals, and even entire books devoted to a particular aspect of statistical education. The International Conferences on the Teaching of Statistics (ICOTS), held every four years, beginning in 1982, helped to progressively link an informal research network of people interested in carrying out research on the teaching and learning of statistics at all age levels. It was at ICOTS I in 1982 that the International Study Group for Research on Learning Probability and Statistics was formed (currently called IASE SERG). Several papers at ICOTS 5, held in June 1998 in Singapore, focused on the related topics of Statistical Reasoning, Statistical Thinking, and Statistical Literacy. Discussions about these papers led to the First International Research Forum on Statistical Reasoning, Thinking and Literacy (SRTL-1) which was held in July of 1999. Sixteen statistics educators from six different countries met for five days at Kibbutz Be'eri in Israel to discuss the topics of statistical literacy, reasoning, and thinking. The Forum was co-chaired by Joan Garfield (University of Minnesota, USA) and Dani Ben-Zvi (Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel), who are currently Vice-presidents of the IASE. One unique feature of this Forum was the use of videos of classroom work or interviews with students, as a way to present, discuss and argue about research related to these topics. SRTL-1 was a first attempt to focus a research forum on the interrelated and often poorly defined topics of statistical literacy, reasoning, and thinking. Participants of SRTL-1 indicated that the meeting's format enabled good discussion, and that it was stimulating and enriching to become acquainted with key researchers in this area and to view their work in progress. The use of video in the talks and the extended discussions of videotaped sequences were especially valued. It was clear from participants' evaluations that many wish to continue this format again in the future. Therefore, we are planning to have a second gathering (SRTL-2) in Australia, with an improved structure based on participant's evaluations.
Focus of SRTL-2Discussions and research before, during and after SRTL-1 have revolved around a number of issues. Most generally, is the need to clarify what constitutes statistical reasoning, thinking and literacy (SRTL). Interest is mounting in the various definitions and understandings of SRTL, particularly, in how the three types of processing statistical information; reasoning, thinking and literacy, are similar to and different from each other. Also of interest is the clarification of the SRTL of professional statisticians, as this may prove to be useful for educational purposes. However, presentations at the SRTL-2 Forum should focus on:
SRTL-2 Advisory CommitteeDani Ben-Zvi (Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel), Joan Garfield (University of Minnesota, USA) and Chris Reading (University of New England, Australia) are co-chairs of this International Research Forum. They will be assisted by Janet Ainley (University of Warwick, UK), Iddo Gal (University of Haifa, Israel), John Pegg (Director of the CRiLT Centre, UNE, Australia), and Brian Phillips (President of IASE, Swinburne University of Technology, Australia). This advisory committee will organize the program, invite participants, and edit the research book.
FormatThe format of the Research Forum is for 20 participants to meet together for three 90-minute sessions each day for four days. The sessions will present research-type systematic material illustrating the processes involved in statistical reasoning, thinking or literacy. These materials may include selected and annotated video segments or selected printed transcripts that can help answer one or more of the questions posed, and that can lead to educational implications. The presentations will be restricted to 50 minutes, with the remaining 40 minutes being devoted to comments and discussion of the presentations, and to general related issues. In addition, background papers by participants and others will be collected and distributed prior to the Forum. Focus of the papers will include current theories of statistical thinking, reasoning and literacy and details on recent research on these topics. Participants will submit abstracts, restricted to three A4 pages single spacing with at least 2 cm margins (left, right top and bottom), of their presentations before Dec. 1st, 2000. Papers (even in draft form) will be submitted for consideration of the group at least one month before the gathering, in order to foster a focused discussion on the paper's format and contents during the gathering. If appropriate, papers will include descriptive information on the context of the videos to be viewed. Discussants will receive the papers beforehand and review them, in writing, to serve as a basis for discussions during the Forum.
Venue and Tentative ProgramAll sessions will be held at the University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales. Armidale is located in the New England Tablelands, in New South Wales, midway between Sydney and Brisbane. Participants will arrive on Wednesday, August 15th, 2001. On that day there will be an orientation to the university and a welcome reception. Meetings will take place on Thursday through to Sunday, interspersed with sightseeing around the New England Region. On Monday, August 20th, there will be final morning sessions after which participants will leave Armidale when they may choose to tour Australia, or elsewhere, proceed to ISI-53 (Seoul, 22 to 29 August 2001) or head home. Participants will need to pay for their own travel to the Research Forum but accommodation, meals and sightseeing will be included in the registration fee. Sightseeing will be focused around highlights of the UNE, Armidale and the surrounding district including; Booloominbah (home donated as the foundation of UNE), Regional Art Museum, Trout Hatchery, New England National Park, Ebor Falls, Yaraandoo Environmental Interpretive Centre, Gostwyck Church and the histoPhoenix Iron Foundry. The registration fee will be approximately US$500 (accompanying persons approximately US$400).
The Research Forum organizers invite anyone interested in participating in this Forum to contact them as soon as possible. Initial expressions of interest are invited including a brief one-page description of relevant work to be shared at the Forum.
Please contact:Chris Reading, at creading@metz.une.edu.au Dani Ben-Zvi, at dani.ben-zvi@weizmann.ac.il Joan Garfield, at jbg@tc.umn.edu Second announcement for SRTL2 Second announcement for SRTL2Third announcement for SRTL2 Third announcement for SRTL2Fourth announcement for SRTL2 Fourth announcement for SRTL2 |
