This is a paper that will be presented at the International Association of Statistics Education (IASE) conference in Durban in August 2009.
Abstract
Over the years several authors have been advocating change to the way statistics is taught to specialist and non-specialist undergraduates. One argument has been that adopting an approach that reflects real world experiences would better equip them for joining an evidence-based world after graduating. Even though some progress has been made, steps to change things have not been taken by curriculum designers or the vast majority of teachers of undergraduate statistics courses.
More recently, in 2006 in the UK there were urgent calls from the Higher Education Funding Councils and the Economics and Social Science Research Council for proposals to develop undergraduate curricula that:
- use real data to show the value of quantitative methods;
- show students they have the foundation skills that can build on their school experience;
- encourage students to collect their own data and analyse them;
- encourage students to carry out their own research projects using data.
We shall describe material for teaching statistics to students in the key discipline area of the social sciences using an evidence-based problem-solving approach. This is particularly suitable for level-one undergraduates as it attempts to link knowledge and experience prior to arrival at university with what is initially taught in a typical introductory social science course in statistics. Key features of the approach focus on the statistical practice of planning, collecting, processing and discussing.
Setting the scene at an early stage involves demonstrating what statistics is for and what it can do in other subjects’ contexts. This will help students and teachers in other disciplines. We believe that all graduates need to be able to at least understand how evidence-based decisions are made and be able to undertake the activities necessary to make informed decisions themselves.
