Research on Teaching and Learning Statistics: Resources

Books

• • Ben-Zvi, D., & Garfield, J. (2004). The challenge of developing statistical literacy, reasoning, and thinking. Dordrecht, the Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

This book collects, presents, and synthesizes cutting edge research on different aspects of statistical reasoning and applies this research to the teaching of statistics to students at all educational levels. It presents the research foundation on which teaching should be based. The chapters in this volume are written by leading researchers in statistics education.

• • Lajoie, S. P. (1998). Reflections on statistics: Learning, teaching, and assessment in grades K-12 (studies in mathematical thinking and learning series). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

This volume represents the emerging findings of an interdisciplinary collaboration among a group of mathematics educators, cognitive scientists, teachers, and statisticians to construct an understanding of how to introduce statistics education and assessment for students in elementary and secondary schools. A premise of this volume is that when students are introduced to statistics at the K-12 level and provided with opportunities to do statistics that are related to actual life situations, they will be better prepared for decision making in the real world. The book is organized around four interdependent themes: content, teaching, learning, and assessment.

• • Lovett, M. C., & Shah, P. (Eds.) (2007). Thinking with data (Carnegie Mellon Symposia on Cognition Series). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

A collection of papers presented at the 33rd Carnegie Symposium on Cognition: Thinking with Data. This volume is organized around three themes: (a) reasoning about uncertainty and variation (b) statistical reasoning and data analysis, and (c) learning from and making decisions with data. 

These are important articles on the nature, scope, and main themes of research in statistics education.

• • Batanero, C., Garfield, J., Ottaviani, M. G., & Truran, J. (2000, May). Research in statistical education: Some priority questions. Statistical Education Research Newsletter, 1(2), 2–6. Retrieved December 3, 2006, from http://www.stat.auckland.ac.nz/~iase/serj/newsmay00.pdf

  • Joliffe, F. (1998). What is research in statistics education? In L. Pereira-Mendoza (Ed.), Proceedings of the fifth international conference on teaching statistics (pp. 801–806). Singapore: International Statistical Institute. Retrieved April 20, 2008, from http://www.stat.auckland.ac.nz/~iase/publications/2/Topic6x.pdf

  • Jones, G. A., & Thornton, C. A. (2005). An overview of research into the teaching and learning of probability. In G. A. Jones (Ed.), Exploring probability in school: Challenges for teaching and learning, (pp. 65–92). New York: Springer.

  • Shaughnessy, J. M. (2007). Research on statistics learning and reasoning. In F. K. Lester (Ed.), Second handbook of research on mathematics teaching and learning (pp. 957–1010). Information Age Pub Inc.

• • CAUSE (Consortium for the Advancement of Undergraduate Statistical Education): Research Section

        http://www.causeweb.org/research/ 

These Web pages include lists of important reading in or related to research in statistics education, a searchable data base of abstracts of over 2000 articles related to the research in statistics education, and practical advice about conducting statistics education research. Links are provided to journals that publish research in this area, to conferences where statistics education research is presented, and to Websites of active statistics education research groups and their projects.