Setting the Stage Opportunities and Challenges Roxy Peck Chris Franklin

MWM Consider the map of counties shown below. The number in each county is last month’s incidence rate for a disease in cases per 100,000 population. (Dick Schaeffer, 2005)

MWM Statistical Versus Mathematical Thinking Mathematical Thinking  Explain patterns  Often a deterministic way of thinking Statistical Thinking  Search for patterns in the presence of variability  Acknowledge role of chance variation

MWM Statistical Thinking Statistical thinking is HARD! Needs to be developed and nurtured over time, much like mathematical thinking Is a skill that is critical to making informed decisions based on empirical evidence

The Challenge… Changing role of statistics in the K-12 curriculum Moving from “another year, another graph” curriculum to a curriculum that is focused on developing statistical thinking and the ability to communicate statistical ideas

The Opportunity Nurturing and Developing Statistical Thinking  Integration of new topics and concepts  Recognition that reasoning matures over time and requires a developmental approach