Auckland, November 1, 2012:聽More than 500 teachers are expected to flock to a national road tour this month that aims to support their teaching of a new statistics curriculum to Year 13 students.
The road tour starts in Auckland on November 22 and travels to Christchurch, Dunedin and Wellington, offering presentations and real-life resources to help teachers make the most of the curriculum from the start of the 2013 school year. More than 15,000 New Zealand students studied Year 13 statistics in 2011, the last year for which figures are available.
Co-organiser Professor Chris Wild, from the Department of Statistics at The University of Auckland, expects more than 500 teachers to take part. A core group of 11 presenters will travel to each centre, with local teacher organisations running each event.
鈥淭he road tour is about introducing teachers to new resources that assist with the new curriculum,鈥� says Professor Wild. 鈥淭he focus now is teaching students to interpret and investigate real-life data relevant to their lives and encouraging them to think like statisticians, rather than, say, putting numbers into formulas.鈥� The new curriculum also reflects research by Associate Professor Maxine Pfannkuch, also of the Department of Statistics at The University of Auckland, into ways to make statistics teaching more effective.
Among the teachers developing and trialling the new Year 13 resources is teacher Dr Michelle Dalrymple, of Christchurch鈥檚 Cashmere High School, who has explored an exemplar on drink-driving, accident rates and risk factors with her students. 鈥淓xploring statistics through things students can relate to brings the subject to life,鈥� she says.鈥� They can bring their own ideas and experience to what we鈥檙e discussing and look further at what research has been done.鈥�
The resources highlighted by the road tour will be permanently housed on the website of聽, a project that runs a biannual educational online survey in which schoolchildren answer questions about their lives, the results of which are then turned into data and teaching resources for use in class.
鈥淭eachers are already big users of CensusAtSchool, says Professor Wild,鈥� so it make sense to expand the site and make it a one-stop shop for statistics teachers. Teachers can also contribute new resources, rate what鈥檚 already there, and have their questions answered by specialists.鈥�
The Road Tour is supported by聽; the聽, The University of Auckland;聽; the principals of Lynfield College, Cashmere High School, Westlake Girls High School and Avondale College;聽; and聽, a teacher professional development scheme run by the Faculty of Education at The University of Auckland.
Roadshow dates:
Auckland, Thursday 22 November, Tamaki Campus, The University of Auckland. Contact Ross Parsonage聽r.parsonage@auckland.ac.nz
Christchurch, Tuesday 27 November, University of Canterbury Department of聽Mathematics聽and聽Statistics. Contact Kristian Giles聽gilesk@staff.cbhs.
Dunedin, Wednesday 28 November, University of Otago. Contact Munro Doran,聽尘耻苍谤辞.诲辞谤补苍蔼辞产丑蝉.蝉肠丑辞辞濒.苍锄听
Wellington, Saturday 1 December, Wellington Girls鈥� College (Pipitea Block Level 1). Contact Nada Andic,聽苍补诲补.补苍诲颈肠蔼辩尘肠.蝉肠丑辞辞濒.苍锄听
The core presenters are:聽
Rachel Passmore, Saint Kentigern College; Ruth Kaniuk, Lynfield College; Associate Professor Maxine Pfannkuch, The University of Auckland; Dr Michelle Dalrymple, Cashmere High School; Joss Cumming, The University of Auckland; Anna Martin, Avondale College; Dr Marie Fitch, The University of Auckland; Dru Rose, Westlake Girls High School; Marion Steel, Epsom Girls Grammar School; and Dr Stephanie Budgett, The University of Auckland.
For more information about the day and to register, go to: .