Research in the Statistics Classroom: Learning from Teaching Experiments

Increased attention is being paid, both in the United States and abroad, to the crucial need for statistically educated citizens who are able to reason about and with data while taking into account uncertainty. Statistics is now included in the grades K-12 mathematics curriculum, and increasing numbers of students are taking Advanced Placement Statistics courses in high school as well as introductory statistics courses in college. However, increasing the amount of instruction in statistics alone is not sufficient to prepare statistically literate students and citizens. A growing number of research studies reveal the difficulties involved in understanding statistical ideas and reasoning about data and chance (see, for example, Ben-Zvi and Garfield 2004; Cobb 1999; Konold and Higgins 2003; and Shaughnessy 1992).