The International Research Forums on Statistical Reasoning, Thinking, and Literacy
Encyclopedia
The International Statistical Reasoning, Thinking, and Literacy Research Forums (SRTL) began in 1999 to foster current and innovative research studies that examine the nature and development of statistical literacy
, statistical reasoning, and statistical thinking, and to explore the challenge posed to educators at all levels –– to develop these desired learning goals for students.
Over the past decade there has been an increasingly strong call for statistics education
to focus more on statistical literacy
, statistical reasoning, and statistical thinking. One of the main arguments presented is that traditional approaches to teaching statistics
focus on skills, procedures, and computations, which do not lead students to reason or think statistically.
The SRTL Forums, co-chaired by Joan Garfield and Dani Ben-Zvi , offer scientific gatherings every two years and related publications in journals, CD-ROMs and books.
The SRTL Forums have multiple features: small size that allows plenty of time for interaction and discussion; 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; and a stimulating and enriching format that facilitates the acquaintance with key researchers in this area and viewing their work in progress.
The Weizmann Institute of Science
and Kibbutz Be’eri, srae]l], July 18-July 23, 1999
SRTL2: Statistical Reasoning
University of New England
, Armidale, Australia
, August 15-August 20, 2001
SRTL3: Reasoning about Variability
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA, July 23-July 28, 2003
SRTL4: Reasoning about Distribution
University of Auckland
, New Zealand
, July 2-July 7, 2005 http://srtl.stat.auckland.ac.nz/srtl4/research_forums
SRTL5: Reasoning about Statistical Inference
– Innovative Ways of Connecting Chance
and Data
The University of Warwick
, United Kingdom
, August 11-August 17, 2007
SRTL6: The Role of Context
and Evidence
in Informal Inferential Reasoning
The University of Queensland
, Brisbane
, Australia
, July 10–16, 2009
Statistical literacy
Statistical literacy is a term used to describe an individual's or group's ability to understand statistics. Statistical literacy is necessary for citizens to understand material presented in publications such as newspapers, television, and the Internet. Numeracy is a prerequisite to being...
, statistical reasoning, and statistical thinking, and to explore the challenge posed to educators at all levels –– to develop these desired learning goals for students.
Over the past decade there has been an increasingly strong call for statistics education
Statistics education
Statistics education is concerned with the teaching and learning of statistics.Statistics is both a formal science and a practical theory of scientific inquiry, and both aspects are considered in statistics education. Education in statistics has similar concerns as does education in other...
to focus more on statistical literacy
Statistical literacy
Statistical literacy is a term used to describe an individual's or group's ability to understand statistics. Statistical literacy is necessary for citizens to understand material presented in publications such as newspapers, television, and the Internet. Numeracy is a prerequisite to being...
, statistical reasoning, and statistical thinking. One of the main arguments presented is that traditional approaches to teaching statistics
Statistics
Statistics is the study of the collection, organization, analysis, and interpretation of data. It deals with all aspects of this, including the planning of data collection in terms of the design of surveys and experiments....
focus on skills, procedures, and computations, which do not lead students to reason or think statistically.
The SRTL Forums, co-chaired by Joan Garfield and Dani Ben-Zvi , offer scientific gatherings every two years and related publications in journals, CD-ROMs and books.
The SRTL Forums have multiple features: small size that allows plenty of time for interaction and discussion; 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; and a stimulating and enriching format that facilitates the acquaintance with key researchers in this area and viewing their work in progress.
Books
- Garfield, J., & Ben-Zvi, D. (in press). Developing students’ statistical reasoning: connecting research and teaching practice. Springer.
- Ben-Zvi, D., & Garfield, J. (Eds.) (2004). The challenge of developing statistical literacy, reasoning, and thinking. Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Journals
- Special issues of the Statistics Education Research Journal on "Reasoning about variability", Volume 3(2), and Volume 4(1).
- A special issue of the Statistics Education Research Journal on "Reasoning about Distribution", Volume 5(2)
- A special issue of the Statistics Education Research Journal on "Reasoning about Informal Statistical Inference" is expected by 2008.
Conference Proceedings (on CD-ROM's)
- Lee C. (Ed.) (2003). Reasoning about variability: A collection of current research studies (CD-ROM). Proceedings of the Third International Research Forum on Statistical Reasoning, Thinking, and Literacy (SRTL-3), the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA, 23 – 28 July. Mt. Pleasant, MI: Department of Mathematics, Central Michigan University.
- Makar, K. (Ed.) (2005). Reasoning about distribution: A collection of current research studies. Proceedings of the Fourth International Research Forum on Statistical Reasoning, Thinking, and Literacy (SRTL-4), University of Auckland, New Zealand, 2–7 July. Brisbane: University of Queensland.
The Theme, Location, Dates and Website of the SRTL Research Forums
SRTL1: Foundations of Statistical Reasoning, Statistical Thinking and Statistical LiteracyStatistical literacy
Statistical literacy is a term used to describe an individual's or group's ability to understand statistics. Statistical literacy is necessary for citizens to understand material presented in publications such as newspapers, television, and the Internet. Numeracy is a prerequisite to being...
The Weizmann Institute of Science
Weizmann Institute of Science
The Weizmann Institute of Science , known as Machon Weizmann, is a university and research institute in Rehovot, Israel. It differs from other Israeli universities in that it offers only graduate and post-graduate studies in the sciences....
and Kibbutz Be’eri, srae]l], July 18-July 23, 1999
SRTL2: Statistical Reasoning
University of New England
University of New England, Australia
The University of New England is an Australian public university with approximately 18,000 higher education students. Its original and main campus is located in the city of Armidale in northern New South Wales....
, Armidale, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, August 15-August 20, 2001
SRTL3: Reasoning about Variability
Variability
The term variability, "the state or characteristic of being variable", describes how spread out or closely clustered a set of data is. This may be applied to many different subjects:*Climate variability...
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA, July 23-July 28, 2003
SRTL4: Reasoning about Distribution
University of Auckland
University of Auckland
The University of Auckland is a university located in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the largest university in the country and the highest ranked in the 2011 QS World University Rankings, having been ranked worldwide...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, July 2-July 7, 2005 http://srtl.stat.auckland.ac.nz/srtl4/research_forums
SRTL5: Reasoning about Statistical Inference
Statistical inference
In statistics, statistical inference is the process of drawing conclusions from data that are subject to random variation, for example, observational errors or sampling variation...
– Innovative Ways of Connecting Chance
Chance
- Philosophy, logic and theology :* Chance * Contingency * Indeterminism* Luck* Probability* Randomness- Places :* Chancé, a commune in Brittany, France* Chance, Kentucky, U.S.* Chance, Maryland, U.S.* Chance, Virginia, U.S....
and Data
Data
The term data refers to qualitative or quantitative attributes of a variable or set of variables. Data are typically the results of measurements and can be the basis of graphs, images, or observations of a set of variables. Data are often viewed as the lowest level of abstraction from which...
The University of Warwick
University of Warwick
The University of Warwick is a public research university located in Coventry, United Kingdom...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, August 11-August 17, 2007
SRTL6: The Role of Context
Context
Context may refer to:* Context , the relevant constraints of the communicative situation that influence language use, language variation, and discourse summary...
and Evidence
Evidence
Evidence in its broadest sense includes everything that is used to determine or demonstrate the truth of an assertion. Giving or procuring evidence is the process of using those things that are either presumed to be true, or were themselves proven via evidence, to demonstrate an assertion's truth...
in Informal Inferential Reasoning
The University of Queensland
University of Queensland
The University of Queensland, also known as UQ, is a public university located in state of Queensland, Australia. Founded in 1909, it is the oldest and largest university in Queensland and the fifth oldest in the nation...
, Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, July 10–16, 2009