Volume 17 (2009)

Archive (1993-2008)

Index

Interactive Computing Archive

Data Archive

Resources

Editorial Board

Guidelines for Authors

Guidelines for Data Contributors

Home Page

Contact JSE

ASA Publications

Current issue

The March 2009 (Volume 17, Number 1) issue of JSE is now available. The table of contents is at: [2009 Table of Contents]. This issue has twelve papers, including one in the "Datasets and Stories" department. There are papers that should appeal to readers who teach statistics at all levels. There are new applets, there is material for those who teach business, education, and psychology students, material for more advanced topics, and some thought-provoking papers on more fundamental issues in teaching. Those who teach material on time series will find the paper in the "Datasets and Stories" department interesting.

There are two articles in the Teaching Bits Department. Audbjorg Bjornsdottir and Joan Garfield highlight a few articles published in 2008, representing a variety of different journals that include statistics education in their focus. They also provide information about the journal and a link to their website so that abstracts of additional articles may be accessed and viewed. Deb Rumsey provides some "Random Thoughts on Teaching," in particular, she asks whether we use language that is more complicated than necessary when we teach certain statistical concepts. If you find her comments stimulating, you may also want to read the paper by Ilana Lavy and Michal Mashiach-Eizenberg in this issue.

From Research to Practice - Consider Submitting to this New Department

We have not received many submissions for the "From Research to Practice" section. We encourage JSE readers to consider submitting future contributions to this new department, by finding a research article of interest, reading and reflecting on it, implementing ideas from the paper in their classes, assessing the results, writing up their findings, and submitting it to JSE The paper by Jackie Miller in the March 2007 issue describes the goals of this section. Take a look!

A reminder from the editor

As you may have noticed, we now provide pdf versions of all papers as well as an html version. The pdf versions are suitable for downloading and printing. They are often cleaner looking than the html versions. This is certainly true for papers with many equations. Although html code does exist for many mathematical symbols, it is not the ideal language for equations. For example, html does not allow one to place one symbol directly above or below another. Thus, there is no code for the x-bar symbol for the mean. Also, older browsers may not support special html code. In those cases where a symbol or equation cannot be directly rendered in html, we create a picture of the symbol or equation (a gif or jpg file) and display the symbol or equations as a picture. There are a couple of drawbacks with using pictures. First, pictures are difficult to align and usually do not look good in the middle of a sentence. Thus, we often set them on a separate line. Second, the resolution of the pictures may be low and look blurred in some browsers. For articles with many equations, we encourage readers to take a look at the pdf version. Also, if you are submitting a paper with many equations or mathematical symbols, remember that the html version of your paper may not look as nice as the electronic version you submit. But we will convert your electronic version into a pdf file so that readers have access to a very clean looking version of your paper.

JSE is a publication of the American Statistical Association

Next issue

The next issue of JSE is due to be announced in July 2009. Articles in the next issue may appear on the Web site one at a time during the construction of the issue.

USCOTS 2009

USCOTS 2009 June 25-27
United States Conference On Teaching Statistics
Blackwell Hotel & Pfahl Conference Center,
The Ohio State University

Theme of USCOTS 2009: Letting Go to Grow!
Are we trying to fit in too much to have a "good" statistics course?
Can we retool and rethink our courses to better meet our goals?
What should we let go of in order to grow?

· Plenary sessions by Dani Ben-Zvi, George Cobb, Peter Ewell, Ronald Wasserstein, and Chris Wild on current and emerging trends in research, curriculum, pedagogy, and resources.
· Posters and Beyond sessions exchanging your ideas on teaching and learning statistics
· Hands-on breakout sessions to incorporate new ideas into your courses
· Opportunities to meet other statistics teachers from a wide range of institutions and disciplines
· Plenty of materials, ideas, and motivation to take home with you
· A fun, active atmosphere where everyone can be involved!
· More details: www.causeweb.org/uscots/

Registration is now being accepted for USCOTS 2009!.

Other statistics education journals.

Statistics Education Research Journal
"Statistics Education Research Journal [SERJ] is published by the International Association for Statistical Education to encourage research activity, advance knowledge about student's attitudes, conceptions, and difficulties as regards stochastical knowledge and improving the teaching of statistics at all educational levels."
(www.stat.auckland.ac.nz/~iase/publications.php?show=serj)

Teaching Statistics
A journal for teachers of students aged 9 to 19.
(www.rsscse.org.uk/ts/)

Case Studies in Business, Industry and Government Statistics (CS-BIGS)
A journal of case studies in business, industry, and government statistics.
www.bentley.edu/csbigs
or
http://mail.beaconhill.org/~j_haughton/csbigstitle1-1jh.pdf.

Technology Innovations in Statistics Education
A journal reporting on studies of the use of technology to improve statistics learning at all levels, from kindergarten to graduate school and professional development.
http://repositories.cdlib.org/uclastat/cts/tise/.

Mission statement

JSE disseminates knowledge for the improvement of statistics education at all levels, including elementary, secondary, post-secondary, post-graduate, continuing, and workplace education.

Subscribe to JSE

JSE is available for no charge. If you wish to receive e-mail announcements when new issues are published (or if you have questions or comments about JSE), please send an e-mail to the Editorial Assistant, Jean Scott (jse@stat.ohio-state.edu).