Statistics lessons

The actions of Statistics tutor(s) conducting statistics lessons are influenced by many factors. As they teach about measures of central tendency, for example, the approaches taken will be influenced by beliefs. These might include beliefs about whether students need to practice the procedure of computing the mean, whether students should see how Statistics problems relates to real-world situations, whether technology might help students learn, and whether it is important that students are capable of learning how to make their own decisions about the most appropriate measure to use. The study of students’ and teachers’ beliefs in mathematics education has a long and extensive history; the story for statistics education/Statistics help is sparser and comparatively short, especially in the area of teachers’ beliefs.

There are important contextual issues to bear in mind when considering teachers’ beliefs about statistics education. The first is the scope of “Statistics questions”. What is categorized as “Statistics answers” in the school curriculum varies widely, from simple data representation at the primary level, through to beginning inference at the secondary level. Indeed, some statisticians may not believe that the data representation work in pre-secondary level curricula can truly be called statistics at all. Second, it must be noted that statistics, as a discipline, has only recently entered the curriculum in a substantial way. Although some countries have had statistics as part of the high school curriculum for 40 years it is only in the last 20 or so years that it has received a major push. In some countries the incorporation of statistics has come only in the past decade, especially for the primary/elementary curriculum, but even for the high school curriculum as well. Nowadays  free Statistics help is easily to find on the internet.