ASSESSMENT IN STATISTICS COURSES: A ONE-DAY CONFERENCE FOR TEACHERS OF STATISTICS

Newsletter for the Section on Statistical Education
Volume 3, Number 1 (Winter 1997)

The Boston Chapter of the American Statistical Association is organizing a conference on assessment in statistics courses at all levels to be held on Saturday, April 19, 1997 at Simmons College in Boston, Massachusetts. Additional support is being provided by Simmons College, the ASA Section on Statistical Education, The Connecticut Chapter of ASA, and the Rhode Island Chapter of ASA.

The Keynote Speaker is Joan Garfield, University of Minnesota. Other featured presenters are:

Assessing Students: Jon Cryer, Rosemary Roberts, Norean Sharpe
Assessing the Course: Patricia Busk
Assessing Textbooks: Katherine Halvorsen, Robert Hayden
Assessing Software: Steven Cohen, John Nash
Assessing Innovations in the Classroom: Allan Rossman
Discussant: Richard Scheaffer, University of Florida
This conference will address five broad areas of assessment in statistics courses. These include assessing students (e.g., objective and open-ended test questions, assessment tools besides tests including labs, projects, or cases); assessing the course (e.g., techniques for assessing students' attitudes and values and their reactions to class activities, assignments, and instructional methods); assessing textbooks (e.g., what should a teacher look for in choosing a textbook); assessing software (e.g., ease of use, accuracy, usefulness in helping students construct their own knowledge of statistics); assessing classroom innovations (e.g., how can an instructor decide if a new classroom innovation is successful). In addition to having speakers address these areas, there will be luncheon roundtables where participants can engage in small-group discussions around themes such as sharing favorite test questions, developing scoring rubrics for open-ended questions, discussing the AP Statistics course and exam, evaluating written work such as projects or cases, or getting started with formative assessment.

Registration information: Registration packets will be mailed in early February 1997. These packets will include a registration form, more details on the conference including a schedule of the days events, directions to Simmons College, and information on lodging in the area. If you would like to receive a registration packet, send your name, affiliation, mailing address, phone number, and email address (preferably by email) to:
Robert N. Goldman
Department of Mathematics
Simmons College
300 The Fenway
Boston MA 02115-5898
(617) 232-7254
rgoldman@vmsvax.simmons.edu.

The registration fee for the conference will be approximately $40 for members of the Boston, Connecticut, and Rhode Island Chapters and $45 for all others, payable when the registration form is returned.

Return to V3 N1 Contents
Return to Newsletter Home Page