RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN STUDENTS’ EXPERIENCE OF LEARNING STATISTICS AND TEACHING STATISTICS

Abstract

Students in the same statistics course learn different things, and view the role of the lecturer in different ways. We report on empirical research on students’ conceptions of learning statistics, their expectations of teaching, and the relationship between them. The research is based on interviews, analysed using a qualitative methodology, with statistics students studying for a mathematics degree. Students expressed a range of conceptions of learning in statistics and a range of conceptions of their lecturers’ teaching. These conceptions of learning and teaching were related, but not as closely or as exclusively as previous researchers have indicated. Looking at what students expect of teachers and their views of their own learning provides an opportunity for teachers to develop teaching practices that challenge students to move towards more integrated conceptions of statistics learning.

First published May 2003 at Statistics Education Research Journal: Archives