The
lucky cat, a traditional Chinese symbol of good fortune. Photo by Juliane
Zielonka.
QUOTES
H. G. Wells
For complete initiation as an efficient citizen, it is necessary to be able
to compute, to think in averages and maxima and minim.
Helen M. Walker
Florence Nightingale believed that the administrator could only be successful
if he were guided by statistical knowledge.
Seymour Papert
What an individual can learn, and how he learns it, depends on what models
he has available.
E. Fischbein
Schools cultivate the belief that to fully know and understand a phenomenon
means referring it to a unique causal relationship. Would it be better to
prepare the child early for the synthesis of the possible and the determined?
Susanne P. Lajoie & Thomas
A. Romberg
Statistics education in its current form is inadequate.
Gudmund R. Iverson
Statistics can play a strong role in liberal arts education, in part because
of the advances that have taken place in computer technology.
Mathematics
Standards Committee
(Report to the New York State Commissioner of Education)
The goal of all teachers of mathematics should be to inspire their students
to appreciate the power and beauty of mathematics.
Michael Schiff & Arie Y. Lewin
Accounting education should include appropriate attention to behavioral considerations.
Articles
Complex Systems in Education: Scientific and Educational
Importance and Implications for the Learning Sciences
by Michael J. Jacobson & Uri Wilensky
The multidisciplinary study of complex systems in the physical and social
sciences over the past quarter of a century has led to the articulation
of important new conceptual perspectives and methodologies that are of
value both to researchers in these fields as well as to professionals,
policymakers, and citizens who must deal with challenging social and global
problems in the 21st century. (abstract) (view/download full-text pdf)
The History of the Bell Curve: Sorting and the Idea of Normal
by Lynn Fendler and Irfan Muzaffar
The history of the bell curve, from a representation of binomial probability,
to a bearer of real things in nature, and finally to a set of expectations
about how people should behave. (abstract) (full
text online)
Desired and Feared—What Do We Do Now and Over the Next 50 Years?
by Xiao-Li Meng
Statistics, as a discipline, is now both desired and feared. This
article suggests ways to prepare the profession to meet the ever-increasing
demand, in terms of both quantity and quality. See also responses to this
article.
Course Outlines
Exploring
Economic Inequality with Data
The National Numeracy Network
This set of assignments exposes students to data pertaining to economic
inequality in international and historical context.
Videos
Arthur Benjamin's formula for changing math education
A proposal to replace calculus with probability and statistics in secondary
schools, reflecting the shift from the analog to the digital age.
Links
Medical
Ignorance
Using the insights and techniques of medical ignorance to improve science education
and health literacy by focusing on Questions, Questioning and Questioners.
Childhood
Origins of Adult Resistance to Science,
by Paul Bloom and Deena Skolnick Weisberg
Both adults and children resist acquiring scientific information that clashes
with common-sense intuitions.
AAAS Science, Mathematics, and Technology Education Seminar
The first comprehensive effort by a scientific society to work directly
with school boards on science, mathematics, and technology education.
Pedagogy in Action
The Science Education Resource Center, resources for educators in Science,
Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).
WISE:
Web Interface for Statistics Education
Easy access for students and teachers of statistics to a wide range of resources
that are freely available on the Internet.
When
Will I Use Math?
The value of mathematics education in life and work.
CAUSE
An organization whose mission is to support and advance undergraduate statistics
education.
