The Many Faces of Statistics Education: Past, Present, and Future

• Activity Number: 312
• Type: Invited
• Date/Time: Tuesday, August 5, 2014 : 10:30 AM to 12:20 PM
• Sponsor: ASA 175th Anniversary Steering Committee
• Author(s): Jessica Utts*+
• Companies: University of California, Irvine
• Keywords: Statistics education ; History of statistics

Abstract

In keeping with the theme of the 175th anniversary of the American Statistical Association, this talk will examine the past, present and possible future trends and highlights in statistics education. The talk will feature some of the major milestones in statistics education, from the rapid growth of statistics departments in the 20th century to the current push for online education. The "many faces" in the title also refers to individuals who have had a major impact on statistics education, and some of their contributions will be discussed. The ever-increasing breadth of statistics education will be discussed as well, including the recent increase in the importance of statistics in K-12 education in the United States and elsewhere, the trend toward teaching statistical literacy in various college courses and as general education requirements, and the expansion of opportunities for non-traditional graduate education in statistics.