Activities Integrating K-12 Probability & Statistics Reform Curricula into Pre-Service Teacher Education

• Activity Number: 408
• Type: Contributed
• Date/Time: Thursday, August 15, 2002 : 10:30 AM to 12:20 PM
• Sponsor: Section on Statistical Education*
• Author(s): John Gabrosek*+ and Phyllis Curtiss and Alverna Champion
• Affiliation(s): Grand Valley State University and Grand Valley State University and Grand Valley State University
• Keywords: reform curricula ; teacher preparation ; statistics education ; probability

Abstract

In this talk, we illustrate how to incorporate K-12 mathematics reform curricula into a Probability & Statistics course without sacrificing any of the mathematical rigor of the course. The activities created for the Probability & Statistics course are part of an ongoing project designed to enhance the mathematical core at Grand Valley State University (GVSU). The audience for the Probability & Statistics course at GVSU includes mathematics majors and statistics majors. Many of the mathematics majors are pre-service K-12 teachers.

The activities developed foster a deeper conceptual understanding for all students. Most of the activities require students to construct their own knowledge prior to formal lecturing or class discussion. In this talk, we describe one of the activities in detail. We describe the mechanics of using the activity, discuss how the activity connects to topics taught in a Probability & Statistics course, and provide examples of student work.

In a companion session at JSM titled "Teaching Probability and Statistics to Prospective Teachers," Phyllis Curtiss describes general features of the project.