1. The “Battle” (??) between Mathematics and Statistics
Auckland Stats Day
November 2017
Dave Phillipps, Lincoln High School

2. Top 5!!! What are your top 5 reasons for loving Mathematics?
What are your top 5 reasons for loving Statistics?
Right to Challenge!

3. My Dilemma
Why do we see top Mathematics students not performing well in Statistics standards?

4. What is Mathematics? What is Statistics?
 Mathematics is the exploration and use of patterns and relationships in quantities, space, and time.
Statistics is the exploration and use of patterns and relationships in data.
These two disciplines are related but different ways of thinking and of solving problems. Both equip students with effective means for investigating, interpreting, explaining, and making sense of the world in which they live.

5. What is Mathematics? What is Statistics?
What is Mathematics to you?
What is Statistics to you?
What defines a Mathematical thinker?
What defines a Statistical thinker?

6. Student thoughts – high achiever in both
“Mathematics is puzzling – you play around and get excited when a neat solution falls out;
Statistics is the real world – I’ve gotten really good at debating!”

7. “Mathematics is introverted; Statistics is extroverted”
Student thoughts
“Mathematics is introverted;
Statistics is extroverted”
“Mathematics is reliable;
Statistics is ever-changing”

8. So, are we one or the other – a Mathematical thinker or a Statistical thinker?

9. So what were the issues for our top Mathematics students when doing Statistics?
“I took MAC201 so I didn’t have to do any more Statistics – didn’t have to do all that writing stuff!”
Being too literal, too structured – SUSSO/WECAR
There was an inability to marry statistical thinking with contextual knowledge

10. So why do we have these issues?
The battle doesn’t necessarily start with the students – it can start within our curriculum departments!
We teach too much Statistics and not enough ALGEBRA!
Why do we teach Algebra, today’s world needs more STATISTICS!

11. What is the solution?
Specialise: Teach in semesters with specialist Stats teachers teaching the stats units and Maths teachers the Maths units (??! Not an ideal solution)
Teach the teachers first – we need to shift any linear/structured approaches to teaching Statistical units to one of Statistical thinking (Growth Mindset)
Grow depth in statistical thinking from Year 9 onwards

12. How do Statistics teachers teach Statistics
How do Statistics teachers teach Statistics? What do we do to model good Statistical thinking?
Eg.

13. Planning a survival guide for next years Yr9s
Milestone ideas:
1) Plan a survey to gather information about what others think/believe new Year 9’s need to know
a) best places around the school to be aware of as a new Year 9
b) what life at school might like (ie how to survive) in the: first day; first week; first term
2) Collect your data and analyse it using suitable graphs
3) Plan what information you are going to try and pass on to the 2018 Year 9’s for each of the three parts in your Digital Presentation
4) Plan what information is needed in your Treasure Map, including directions and distances from a key starting point.
5) Complete your Treasure Map
6) Complete your Survival Guide
Present your Survival Guide
How do we run this to develop Statistical Thinking?

14. Dave Phillipps: dph@lincoln.school.nz
Your thoughts?
Dave Phillipps: